4..1'L.  oC 


'^  PRINCETON,  N.  J.  ^ 


Presented    by  c3  VI^V^C  iS'S  cS>X(ScA 

Dwision -D-Z^-XLLd  J_)_I) 
Section  Jy,D.'^l 


DR.    AUGUSTUS    NEANDER'S 

SCRIPTURAL    EXPOSITIONS 

THE   FIRST   EPISTLE   OF  JOIIK, 

Til  K 

EPISTLE  OF  PAUL   TO  THE   PHILIPPIANS 

AND 

THE    EPISTLE    OF    JAMES. 


TRANSLATED     FROM    THE     GERMAN 

BY 

MRS.  H.   C.   CONANT, 

AUTHOR     OP     IlISTOKT     OP     "ENOL  ISir     BIBLE     TRANSLATIOIT. 


NEW    YORK: 
SHELDON    AND    COMPANY, 

BOSTON:     GOULD    &    LINCOLN. 
CHICAGO:   S.   C.   GRIGGS   &   00. 

18  5  9. 


THE    FIRST 


EPISTLE   OF   JOHN, 

PRACTICALLY  EXPLAINED. 


BY 

DR.  AUGUSTUS  NBANDER. 


TRANSLATED    FROM    THE    GERMAN 

BY 

MRS.   II.   C.   CONANT. 


V.'H&T  THINK  YB  OB'  OKlil 


N  E  W  -  Y  0  K  K  : 
SHELDON    &    COMPANY, 

BOSTON:   GOULD   &   LINCOLN. 

CHICAGO  :    S.  C.  GRIGGS. 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  tha  year  1851, 

BV    LEWIS    COLUV 
In  the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  Southern  District  of  New  York. 


PREFACE 


The  present  volume  closes  the  series  of  Neander's  Practical  Com- 
mentiiries.  Of  liis  original  plan,  embracing  all  the  more  important 
[lortions  of  the  Bible,  only  the  Exposition  of  Philippians,  of  James, 
and  of  the  first  Epistle  of  John  had  been  completed,  when  their  re- 
vered author  was  summoned  to  a  higher  sphere.  All  these  are  now 
before  the  American  public.  They  form  a  worthy  close  of  his  earthly 
labors,  and  to  many,  will  seem  the  crowning  glory  of  his  noble  life- 
work.  Tlie  treasures  of  genius  and  learning,  which  enrich  his  more 
Kdientifio  works,  here  seem  vivified  by  a  new  element,  and  melt 
under  the  fervor  of  his  inner  spiritual  life,  into  a  glowing  stream  of 
eloquent  practical  instruction.  Not  that  this  element  is  wanting  in 
any  of  his  productions.  It  was  the  informing  spirit  of  his  life,  and 
of  all  his  labors.  But  here  it  is  predominant ;  all  else  is  but  the  ser- 
vant and  instrument  of  Christian  love,  seeking  to  edify  the  body  of 
Christ. 

Here,  in  the  Epistle  of  John,  Neander  found  a  peculiarly  congenial 
field.  There  is  a  noble  freedom  and  assurance  in  his  tread,  a  glow 
of  feeling,  an  eloquence  of  utterance,  such  as  even  Neander  exhibits 
nowhere  else.  lie  moves  along  the  high  track  of  revelation  as  in  a 
tamiliar  path  ;  gazing  into  its  deepest  mysteries  with  reverent  but 
open  eye,  and  interpreting  them  to  us,  not  as  subjects  for  specula- 
tion, but  as  sources  of  vital  influence  to  the  human  spirit. 

This  exposition  derives  a  peculiar  interest  from  the  fact,  that  it 
was  intended  to  meet  the  religious  wants  of  the  time.  He  found 
the  tendencies  of  the  age  of  John  reproduced  in  our  own ;  and 
threatening  as  then,  not  to  subvert  Christianity  by  open  opposition, 
but  to  corrupt  Christianity  itself,  distilling  into  the  sources  of  belief 
the  poison  of  human  opinion,  under  the^name  of  Biblical  criticism, 
and  Christian  philosophy.  In  developing  the  Apostle's  meaning,  he 
takes  his  stand,  with  a  spirit  and  tone  worthy  of  John  himself,  in 
defence  of  positive  revealed  religion.  The  Gospel  history  is  to  him 
no  Myth  ;  it  is  a  record  of  divine  facts.  The  Christ  therein  reveal- 
ed, is  the  Eternal  Son  of  God  in  human  nature.  He  truly  lived,  he 
truly  died;  he  rose  victorious  over  death,  and  now  lives  at  the 
right  hand  of  the  Father.  Through  his  Life  and  his  Suffering,  ho 
won  immortal  life  for  man;  that  life  which  consists  in  restoration 
to  tlie  likeness  and  fellowship  of  God.  Only  through  him,  can  the 
human  soul  obtain  this  life.  There  is  here  no  liberality,  so-called, 
in  the  theology  of  Neander,  truly  liberal  as  he  is  cm  .-ill  minor  points 


W  FREKACE. 

of  belief.  The  crucified,  tlie  risen,  the  perpetually  mediating  Christ, 
must  be  the  all  and  in  all,  or  the  soul  wanders  in  darkness,  cut  off 
from  the  only  fountain  of  salvation.  On  knowing  Christ  depends 
even  the  knowledge  of  God,  as  the  universal  Father  and  Creator. 
To  the  Christianity  which  does  not  accept  Clirist  in  his  whole  re- 
vealed character,  as  the  incarnate  Eternal  Word,  the  divine-human 
Redeemer,  he  refuses  even  the  name  of  Christianity.  In  his  own 
emphatic  words  :  "  Whoever  denies  or  mutilates  this  fact,  is  to  be 
at  once  rejected.  No  other  mark  for  the  designation  of  the  undi- 
vine,  the  false,  the  anti-Christian,  should  be  needed  for  the  believer." 
Tins  commentary,  as  well  as  the  two  preceding,  exhibits  in  a  strik- 
ing ligljt  Neander's  estimation  of  the  Scriptures,  as  the  inspired 
word  of  God.  In  what  English  interpreter,  guiltless  of  German 
learning,  can  be  found  a  more  reverent  reception  of  their  teachings, 
a  more  devout  and  dihgent  seeking  after  what  is  revealed,  a  more 
t-hild-like  humility  in  pausing  at  the  boundary  where  revelation 
feases?  The  word  of  God  is  to  him  the  supreme  authority,  the 
iirial  ajjpeal.  Ills  sole  object  is  to  develop  its  treasures,  to  penetrate 
tliroiigii  tlie  letter  to  the  spirit,  and  to  bring  this  into  contact  witli 
the  living  heart. 

But  Neander  found  also,  in  the  present  age,  a  dead  orthodoxy ; 
whici),  while  professing  the  most  tenacious  adherence  to  the  Scrip- 
tures as  tiie  revelation  of  divine  truth,  no  less  dishonored  and  en- 
dangered true  Cliristianity.  In  unfolding  John's  treatment  of  this 
eri'or  in  his  own  age,  he  furnishes  lessons  of  the  richest  practical 
instruction  for  the  evangelical  church  of  our  time,  and  of  all  times. 
Religious  truth  is  to  him  food  for  the  soul,  that  on  which  it  must 
live,  something  demanded  by  an  inward  necessity  of  its  nature.  Its 
office  is  not  to  exercise  the  intellect,  but  to  raise  and  purify  the 
spirit.  Belief  is  the  reception  of  tins  truth  into  the  living  heart,  not 
the  cold  assent  of  the  understanding.  Hence  both  the  earnestness 
with  which  he  demands  the  reception  of  essential  truths,  and  his 
comparative  indifference  to  all  points  of  doctrine,  which  do  not  af- 
fect the  interests  of  sjilvation.  Thus  the  true  view  of  the  person  of 
Christ,  is  to  him  an  object  of  infinite  moment.  Tliis  is  not,  how- 
ever, for  the  sake  of  the  knowledge  in  and  for  itself;  bnt  because  it 
is  only  through  this  knowledge,  that  Christ  himself  can  be  rightly 
received  into  the  soul  perishing  for  his  help.  Only  by  knowing  liim 
as  he  is,  can  the  soul  rightly  submit  to  him,  trust  in  him,  draw  from 
him  what  it  needs  for  the  restoration  of  its  God-like  nature  in  tlio 
divine  image.  The  right  recognition  of  truth  presupposes  moreover, 
on  the  part  of  the  percipient,  that  sense  of  his  own  moral  state  ami 
of  liis  relations  to  God,  which  converts  the  outward  to  inward 
knowledge.  The  famishing,  the  sick,  the  dying,  knows  that  he  h;is 
in  this  truth  received  refreshment,  healing,  life,  in  liis  inner  being. 
The  Christ  revealed  to  him,  has  become  the  Christ  reveakd  ix  liiin  ; 
and  in  this  inward  revelation,  continually  derived  anew  from  its 
divine  fountain,  lies  tlie  highest  source  of  spiritual  knowledge.  For 
it  is  the  perception  imparted  by  the  Son  of  God  himself,  the  new 
God-related  sense,  whicli  lie  alone  can  give.  This  is  the  Christian 
consciousness,  so  often  mentioned  by  Neander  in  this  commentary; 


PEEFACE.  7 

to  which  he  ascribes  so  high  an  office,  both  as  the  immediate  ground 
of  belief  in  Christ,  and  the  test  of  whutevcr  is  presented  to  tlie  Chris- 
tian as  divine  truth. 

According  to  this  view,  a  man's  creed  cannot  in  tlie  Scriptural 
sense  be  right  Avhile  his  life,  his  spirit,  is  wrong.  The  letter  of  his 
creed  may  be  right ;  but  wanting  that  wliich  made  it  God's  truth, 
God's  revelation  to  the  soul,  it  is  essentially  false.  It  no  less  mis- 
represents God,  is  no  less  ruinous  to  the  soul,  than  the  unbelief 
which  openly  rejects  the  truth,  or  the  false  philosophy  which  cor- 
rupts it.  How  much  orthodox)',  so-called,  and  contended  for  as  es- 
sential to  salvation,  would  at  this  Ithuriel-touch  stand  revealed  in 
its  true  form,  as  from  beneath,  not  from  above  I  The  spontaneous 
inevitable  expression  of  belief  in  the  Gospel,  of  orthodoxy  in  the 
sense  of  John,  is  Brotherly  Love ;  love  which  regards  all  men  as 
brethren,  but  whose  most  immediate  sphere,  where  it  unfolds  in  its 
highest  power  and  glory,  is  the  church,  the  body  of  Christ.  Hard 
test!  Who  then, — we  might  almost  exclaim,  as,  looking  over  evan- 
gelical Christendom,  we  see  rather  an  arena  of  deadly  combatants 
than  the  peaceful,  loving  home  of  the  family  of  God, — who  then  be- 
lieves !  Convinced  we  must  be,  both  that  the  true  knowledge  of 
Christ  is  as  yet  greatly  wanting  among  professing  Christians,  and 
that  all  attempts  at  outward  union,  whether  among  individuals^, 
churches,  or  the  various  great  divisions  of  the  church,  is  labor 
thrown  away.  The  inward  union,  which  springs  from  living  fellow- 
ship with  God  through  Clirist,  will  gradually  melt  away  all  outward 
differences  which  mar  the  symmetry  of  the  church ;  but  the  out- 
ward union  can  never  heal  the  inward  discord.  So  also  with  the 
evils  of  the  world  at  large.  All  reforms  which  proceed  not  from 
this  divine  principle,  however  fair  their  appearance,  will  prove  un- 
real and  of  brief  duration.  The  source  of  all  evil,  whether  in  the 
church  or  the  world,  is  estrangement  from  God  ;  the  one  great  cure, 
the  restoration  of  the  soul  to  a  loving  union  with  God,  eflected 
through  the  mediation  of  the  divine  Eedeemer. 

Herein  lies  the  peculiar  characteristic  of  this  whole  Commentary, 
— the  conception  of  Christianity  in  all  its  relations  and  manifesta- 
tions, as  a  matter  of  the  hfe.  A  believer,  a  Christian,  is  one  who  is 
in  living  fellowship  with  Christ.  If  this  living  fellowship  is  lost,  he 
is,  whatever  may  have  been  his  former  experiences,  in  precisely  tlie 
same  peril  with  one  who  has  never  known  it.  Neander  knows  of 
no  dead  state  of  grace.  The  human  soul,  created  in  the  image  of 
God,  and  redeemed  by  his  well-beloved  Son,  is  in  his  view  too  noble, 
and  its  price  too  costly,  to  be  thus  taken  to  heaven  as  a  piece  of 
purchased  merchandise.  The  salvation  won  by  Christ  for  man,  is 
the  life  of  God  in  the  soul;  a  conscious  life,  a  reaching  forth  of  its 
warm  living  affections  after  him,  a  life  manifested  by  free,  uncon- 
strained, joyful  obedience  to  his  commands,  by  the  spirit  of  holiness 
and  love  pervading  the  whole  character  and  conduct. 

On  this  view  of  the  Christian  life,  rests  his  noble  conception  of 
the  Christian  church.  It  is  not  a  body  of  men  bound  into  an  exter- 
nal unity  by  the  same  creed  ;  but  a  company  of  individual  believers 
drawn  together  by  an  inward  afnuity,  by  a  common  participation  in 


tliat  living  fellowship  with  God.  Neither  are  there  here  any  dis- 
tinctions of  rank.  It  is  one  family  of  God,  in  which  each  member 
stands  in  immediate  communion  with  his  Fatlier,  and  receives  im- 
mediate life  and  light  from  the  same  divine  Spirit.  There  is  here 
no  infollible  head  of  tlie  church  on  earth ;  no  constituted  priesthood 
to  mediate  between  him  and  God  ;  no  articles  of  faith  shaped  and 
stereotyped  by  the  ingenuity  of  man,  to  which  he  is  required  to  bow. 
Each  has  the  Anointing  of  tlie  Holy  One ;  all  are  Priests  and  Proph- 
ets, through  the  indwelling  divine  Spirit. 

It  seems  especially  meet,  that  the  illustration  of  these  vital  truths 
should  be  the  closing  labor  of  Xeander's  life.  The  spirit  which  per- 
vades it,  reveals  a  soul  matured  and  mellowed  under  the  influence  of 
these  truths,  to  the  deepest  and  richest  tone  of  Christian  experience. 
From  his  own  christian  consciousness  flowed  these  eloquent  exposi- 
tions, of  the  true  character  of  religious  knowledge  and  belief,  of  the 
nature  of  sin,  of  theeflicacy  of  redemption,  of  fellowship  with  God. 
Only  from  personal  intercourse  with  heaven,  was  caught  the  fire  of 
liis  almost  inspired  delineation  of  the  power  of  prayer  !  And  beau- 
tifully fitting  it  seems  also,  that  it  should  be  the  exposition  of  these 
truths  as  revealed  througli  the  Apostle  John.  "With  him,  the  man 
of  "  burning  love  and  burning  hate,'"*  the  beloved  disciple  and  the 
son  of  thunder,  the  man  of  immediate  i)erception  and  intuition  of 
the  divine,  Neander  had  always  felt  a  peculiar  affinity.  The  illus- 
tration of  John's  writings  had  been  a  favorite  labor  of  his  life;  and 
now,  as  its  close  draws  near,  we  find  him  again  holding  communion 
with  the  aged  Apostle,  and  interpreting  his  latest  counsels  to  the 
church.  Standing  on  the  threshold  of  the  unseen  world,  he  seems 
to  listen  with  a  deeper  spiritual  sense  to  the  inspired  utterances,  and 
interprets  them  in  Avords  of  kindred  sublimity,  earnestness,  and 
love.  Their  sweetness  had  hardly  died  upon  his  lips,  when  he  was 
called  "to  the  home  of  the  Good,  to  Christ;"  to  join  in  that  new 
song,  to  which  while  yet  on  earth  his  spirit  and  his  life  were  so 
fully  attuned,  "Worthy  the  Lamb  that  was  slain  1" 

The  brief  sketch  which  has  been  given,  of  the  leading  features  of 
the  following  work,  will  be  pardoned  by  those  who  are  conversant 
with  Neander's  peculiar  modes  of  thought,  for  the  sake  of  the  many 
to  whom  they  are  still  new. 

The  quotations  from  the  Epistle  are  given  in  the  words  of  the 
common  English  version.  The  author's  variations  are  added  in 
brackets,  wherever  they  afiect  the  view  expressed  in  the  commen- 

f^^y-  H.  c.  c. 

Rochester,  Sept.  1852. 

•  Thnl  is,  in  liis  onpiiial  characier,  unmodified  by  divine  grace.  "  Feiirige  Lipbe  und 
fpurige  llaasf,"  was  NcanUer's  charactcrizailon  of  ihe  ualurul  lempcrameni  of  Jobu, 


INTRODUCTION. 

In  order  rightly  to  understand  tliis  Epistle,  we 
must  make  ourselves  acquainted  witli  the  Apos- 
tle's sphere  of  labor  at  the  time  of  writing  it, 
and  with  the  peculiar  circumstances  to  which  he 
had  reference,  in  the  condition  of  the  churches 
whom  he  addressed.  From  the  true  historical  ex- 
planation will  follow,  moreover,  its  proper  appli- 
cation to  all  succeeding  times,  and  to  our  own  age 
more  especially,  as  bearing  a  moi"e  marked  re- 
semblance to  that  which  we  may  designate  as  the 
Johannic  period ;  an  age  which,  in  the  disorgani- 
zation and  destruction  of  the  old  order  of  things, 
is  preparing  the  way  for  a  new  epoch  in  the  de- 
velopment of  the  kingdom  of  God.  In  the  op- 
posing influences  with  which  John  had  to  contend 
as  a  preacher  of  the  Gospel,  properly  understood, 
we  shall  see  prefigured  the  very  same  which  ob- 


8 

struct  the  progress  of  evangelical  truth  in  our  own 
day. 

After  the  martyrdom  of  Paul,  the  influences 
which  had  already  begun  to  oppose  themselves  to 
the  christian  life  in  the  churches  of  Asia  Minor, 
broke  forth  with  increased  strength  when  no 
longer  restrained  by  the  personal  character  and 
authority  of  the  great  Apostle.  John  was  now 
called  to  supply  his  place  in  the  guidance  of  the 
bereaved  churches,  left  exposed  to  the  perils  of  so 
dangerous  a  conflict.  He  had  already  labored 
long  among  them,  when  he  sent  out  this  pastoral 
letter,  with  reference  to  the  many  forms  of  cor- 
ruption which  here  menaced  genuine  Christianity, 
Of  these  corruptions,  some  were  chiefly  specula- 
tive, others  practical  in  their  character.  They 
were,  in  part,  errors  arising  from  a  narrow  and 
defective  conception  of  christian  truth;  in  part, 
practical  mistakes  which  had  no  such  deeper  ori- 
gin. But  these  errors,  of  whatever  kind,  with 
which  John  had  to  contend,  did  not  respect  merely 
those  single  points  of  difference  in  the  mode  of 
dogmatic  conception,  to  which  in  later  times  a 
greater  weight  has  often  been  attached,  than  is 
warranted  by  a  more  just  estimate  of  their  impor- 


9 

tiince  both  to  the  inward  and  the  outward  chris- 
tian life.  On  the  contrary,  they  all  had  reference 
to  that  one  great  truth  on  which  all  others  turn, 
the  central  truth  of  Christianity.  The  Apostle's 
example  furnishes  a  model  of  the  discrimination, 
too  much  neglected  in  after  times,  between  that 
which  is  of  practical  impoitance  in  differences  of 
doctrine,  and  that  which  cannot  Ite  so  regarded. 

In  the  Pauline  period,  all  had  turned  on  the 
question  between  Law  and  Gospel ;  on  the  ques- 
tion whether  faith  in  Jesus,  as  the  Saviour,  would 
alone  suffice  for  the  justification  and  sanctification 
of  men,  or  whether  obedience  to  the  Mosaic  law 
were  also  requisite.  Now,  on  the  contrary,  the 
central  point  of  the  coniiict  between  truth  and 
error  was  the  Person  of  Cheist  ;  and  it  became 
more  and  more  evident,  that  a  full  and  complete 
conception  of  Christianity,  in'  its  relation  to  faith 
and  life,  must  be  based  on  a  full  conception  of  the 
Person  of  Christ  himself.  The  question  had  al- 
ready taken  this  turn  at  the  time  of  Paul's  first  im 
prisonment  at  Rome,  as  appears  from  his  own  op- 
position to  those  errorists  in  the  church  at  Colosse. 
Here,  even  then,  the  Pei'son  of  Christ  in  its  ]-ela- 

tion   to    (jod,  to   tlie    imivei-se,  aii:l    to  hnuinulty, 
1* 


10 

formed  the  central  point  of  controversy;  and  this 
was  nothing  else  than  a,  I'arther  development  of 
the  inherent  contrariety  between  genuine  Chris- 
tianity, and  that  which  only  assumes  its  likeness 
in  order  to  vitiate  it  in  its  own  peculiar  nature. 
We  see  the  same  thing  repeated  in  our  own  time, 
— all  essential  questions  of  religious  faith  resolving 
themselves  more  and  more  into  the  one  question : 
What  are  we  to  hold  respecting  the  Person  of 
Christ  ? 

That  the  Word, — He  Avho  from  the  beginning 
was  with  God  and  was  God,  He  by  whom  all 
things  were  created, — became  Flesh ;  this,  as  John 
himself  teaches,  constitutes  the  peculiar  nature  of 
the  Person  of  Christ.  Herein  is  that  grounded 
by  which  he  is  distinguished  from  all  else  that  has 
ever  appeared  in  the  history  of  humanity, — the 
union  of  the  Divine  Essence  with  human  nature 
In  all  its  pro2}erties  and  peculiarities,  the  human- 
ization  of  the  Divine  Essence  in  order  to  remodel 
human  nature  after  thi%,  revealed  form  of  the  di- 
vine. And  as  it  is  this  which  constitutes  the  pe- 
culiar nature  of  the  Person  of  Christ,  so  does  it 
constitute  the  peculiar  nature  of  entire  Christian- 
ity;  its  grand  purpose  being,  as  befits  the  destiny 


11 

of  man  created  in  the  image  of  God,  to  raise 
whatever  is  human  to  the  glorious  dignity  of  the 
divine  life,  to  transform  it  into  the  divine.  Thus, 
on  the  right  apprehension  of  Christ  as  the  Incar- 
nate Word,  depends  also  the  true  conception  of 
the  whole  moral  change  wrought  in  the  life  by 
Christianity,  in  other  words,  the  peculiar  nature 
of  all  christian  morality.  The  true  concej^tion  of 
this  union  of  the  divine  and  human,  in  the  Person 
of  Christ,  being  thus  essential  to  a  true  under- 
standing of  what  Christ  was ;  there  readily  arose 
two  opposite  forms  of  error,  exalting  the  one  at 
the  expense  of  the  other,  instead  of  grasping  the 
full  and  entire  unity  of  his  divine-human  person, 
both  sides  in  perfect  agreement  and  harmony  with 
each  other.  Both  these  erroneous  and  mutilated 
conceptions  of  the  Whole  Christ,  testify  of  that 
very  truth  from  which  they  diverge  in  opposite 
directions.  For  such,  and  no  othei',  must  have 
been  Christ's  manifestation  of  himself  on  earth,  in 
order  that  the  contemplation  of  it  might  make 
such  opposite  impressions.  Of  this  no  other  ex- 
ample can  be  found  in  human  history.  On  the 
one  class,  so  powerful  was  the  impression  of  the 
purely  human   in  that  manifestation,  that   they 


12 

would  recognize  in  bim  nothing  but  the  man, 
though  gifted  v/ith  extraordinary  divine  powers 
for  the  fulfilment  of  his  human  calling.  The  other 
class,  contending  against  this  narrow  conception  of 
the  idea  of  Christ,  ran  into  the  opposite  extreme. 
To  their  view,  the  divine  glory  shone  in  the  ap- 
pearance of  Christ  with  an  overpowering  radiance, 
before  which  all  that  was  human  vanished  from 
sight.  They  regarded  it  only  as  the  visible  form, 
in  which  the  manifestation  of  a  divine  existence 
had  made  its  abode,  in  order  that  it  might  become 
an  object  of  human  perception.  Between  these 
opposite  forms  of  conception, — the  E])i(^nitis]i  and 
Pocetish,  with  which  John  had  to  contend, — there 
arose  a  third,  that  of  Cerinthus,  whicli  seemed  to 
reconcile  the  two  extremes,  but  which  was  at  bot- 
tom a  compound  of  what  was  erroneous  in  both, 
and  allowed  neither  to  the  divine  nor  the  human 
in  Christ  its  just  claims.  According  to  this  view, 
Jesus  was  a  mere  man,  in  all  respects  like  other 
men.  But  at  his  solemn  consecration  to  his  Mes 
sianic  calling  by  the  baptism  in  Jordan,  the  celes 
tial  redeeming  Spirit,  as  something  wholly  distinct 
from  him,  had  descended  upon  and  united  itself 
with  him.     Thus  the  purely  human  and  the  divine 


13 

were  indeed  both  recognized ;  not  however  in 
their  proper  unity,  but  on  the  contrary  as  entirely 
distinct  the  one  from  the  other,  and  only  united 
in  an  outward  and  accidental  relation.  Thus  nei- 
ther the  divine  was  recognized  in  its  humaniza- 
tion,  nor  the  human  in  its  exaltation  through  the 
divine.  The  true  significance  of  the  Person  of 
Christ,  and  of  the  new  creation  which  was  to  pro- 
ceed from  him,— the  God-man  as  the  Eedeemer 
of  humanity, — was  necessarily  obscured  in  this 
view  no  less  than  in  the  two  others.  In  opposi- 
tion to  all  these  fi-agmentary  conceptions  of  the 
person  and  work  of  Christ,  the  Apostle  John  felt 
himself  constrained  to  give  the  testimony  de- 
rived from  his  own  direct  perception  and  personal 
experience  of  the  life  of  Christ,  in  which  the  glory 
of  the  only  begotten  of  the  Father  had  revealed 
itself  to  him,  beaming  forth  in  his  whole  manifes- 
tation. 

But  it  will  easily  be  perceived,  that  these  same 
contrarieties  are  repeated  at  the  present  day  un- 
der new  forms;  and  hence  the  Apostle's  words 
apply  with  no  less  force  to  the  spiritual  aspects  of 
our  own  age.  The  one  class  recognize  in  Christ 
only  the  enlightened  man,  the  most  perfect  teacher 


14 

of  religious  truth  who  had  then  ever  appeared  on 
earth,  and  the  most  perfect  model  for  the  human 
life.  Christianity  is  in  their  view  only  a  system 
of  moral  instruction,  moral  precept  and  moral  ex- 
ample. They  deny  the  supernatural,  the  divine 
in  the  life  of  Christ,  and  consider  him  as  differing 
only  in  degree  from  the  nobler  of  the  race  ;  they 
explain  away  the  Gospel  history,  till  everything 
in  it  is  brought  down  to  the  level  of  common  ex- 
perience. Hence  too,  they  cannot  recognize  nor 
comprehend  those  moral  potencies  proceeding 
from  Christ,  such  as  could  proceed  from  no  other, 
which  are  working  the  moral  transformation  of 
the  world,  and  by  which  Christianity  is  distin- 
guished from  all  other  spiritual  forces  at  work  in 
humanity.  The  glory  of  a  divine  life,  whereby 
everything  human  is  transformed  into  the  heav- 
enly, remains  hidden  from  their  view.  Christian- 
ity, in  its  peculiar  nature,  is  to  them  still  an  unre- 
vealed  mystery.  Others  there  are,  on  the  con- 
trary, who  fully  recognize  the  violence  thus  done 
to  the  representation  of  the  life  of  Christ  in  the 
Gospel,  who  catch  from  the  Gospel  narrative  the 
gleam  of  higher  ideas  ;  but  they  are  ideas  floating 
in  ether,  having  no  contact  with  the  earthly  and  ac- 


15 

tual.  According  to  their  view,  the  historical  mani- 
festation had  no  actual  existence  ;  it  is  but  a  sub- 
limated myth,  which  has  become  a  medium  for 
the  divine.  The  historical  Christ  becomes  to  them 
a  mere  form  of  mist,  a  phantom,  an  illusion,  as  to 
the  Docetes  of  the  ancient  world.  There  still  re- 
mains, therefore,  the  same  disagreement  between 
the  heavenly  archetype  and  the  actual  being, 
which  it  was  the  very  purpose  of  Christ's  coming 
to  do  away  ;  and  which  was  to  disappear  more  and 
more  by  the  progressive  incorporation  of  his  di- 
vine life  into  the  life  of  humanity,  in  those  who 
enter  into  fellowship  with  him  as  their  Eedeemer. 
As  the  former  will  allow  no  guide  but  actual 
and  ordinary  experience,  which  can  never  rise  to 
the  divine  Idea ;  so  the  latter  content  themselves 
with  the  contemplation  of  mere  ideals  which  have 
no  part  in  life,  never  become  flesh  and  blood,  never 
incorporate  themselves  with  the  actual ;  and  thus 
on  this  side  also,  with  all  its  tendency  to  the  ideal, 
nothing  remains  but  the  common  and  actual. 
The  one  class  admit  only  an  ideal  Christ ;  the 
other  only  an  every-day  Christ  level  to  their  low 
and  natural  view  of  the  historical.  The  first  ad- 
mit only  the  spirit,  the  other  only  the  letter ;  and 


16 

tlius  both  are  lost,  being  rightly  apprehended  only 
in  their  unity. 

From  both  these  forms  of  error  are  to  be  dis- 
tinguished those  practical  mistakes,  which  have  no 
such  theoretical  basis.  Here  too,  as  in  the  former 
case,  we  find  directly  opposite  forms  of  error. 
The  one  class,  in  the  consciousness  of  redemjotion 
already  received,  lost  sight  of  the  still  remaining 
necessity  of  redemption,  which  should  be  ever 
present  to  the  view  of  the  believer;  that  ever 
present  sense  of  still  inhering  sin,  from  which  he 
can  be  purified  only  by  a  perpetually  renewed 
surrender  of  himself  to  tJie  Redeemer.  The  other 
class  hoped  for  forgiveness  of  sin,  without  renun- 
ciation of  sin  in  submission  to  the  Redeemer. 
They  supposed  that  forgiveness  might  be  obtained, 
without  a  thorough  woik  of  sanctification  in  fel- 
lowship with  Christ.  To  tliem,  forgiveness  of  sin 
was  something  merely  external ;  just  as  faith  had 
become  something  external  merely,  having  lost 
its  true  inward  significance.  A  mechanical  and 
worldly  Christianity  had  arisen ;  a  natural  result 
where  Christianity  has  become  a  thing  of  custom 
and  habit,  as  in  these  churches  founded  in  the 
time  of  Paul,  in  many  of  which  Christianity  had 


17 

already  been  Landed  down  from  one  generation 
to  another.  Both  these  forms  of  error  must  be 
met  by  holding  up  to  view  tlie  Holy  One ;  Him 
who  appeared  as  Redeemer  to  establish  a  kingdom 
of  holiness  in  man ;  who,  as  Redeemer  and  Sanc- 
tifier,  continues  to  work  in  that  humanity,  which 
is  more  and  more  to  be  purified  and  ennobled  by 
him,  and  which  can  never  cease  to  have  need  of 
Him  as  its  Redeemer  in  all  the  progressive  stages 
of  sanctification.  We  need  not  stop  to  point  out 
the  perpetual  recurrence  of  these  practical  mis- 
takes, as  it  must  be  obvious  to  all. 

To  these  theoretical  and  practical  mistakes  stand 
opposed  the  counsels,  instructions,  and  warnings 
of  the  Apostle  in  this  pastoral  letter.  It  will 
therefore  easily  be  seen,  how  we  are  to  apply  what 
is  here  written  as  if  intended  expressly  for  our 
own  time.  We  will  now  proceed  to  the  consider- 
ation of  them  in  detail. 

2 


EIPOSITION  OF  THE  EPISTLE. 


CHAPTER    I. 

John  commences  without  any  preliminary  in- 
troduction. His  first  words  burst  forth  from  the 
fulness  of  that  which  was  the  soul,  the  centre  of 
his  whole  Christian  life,  that  which  formed  the 
sum  and  substance  of  his  preaching  and  of  all  his 
instructions.  Taking  his  readers  at  once  into  the 
midst  of  that  subject,  on  which  no  doubt  all  he 
had  ever  had  occasion  to  say  to  them  had  turned, 
he  begins  by  pressing  home  upon  their  hearts 
what  had  already  become  familiar  to  them  from 
his  lips ;  which  needed  only  to  be  recalled  to  their 
remembrance,  to  be  quickened  and  animated  anew, 
and  to  be  made  the  centre  and  axis  of  tKeir  whole 
christian  life.  We  all  remember  the  old  tradition, 
that  when  this  Apostle,  in  extreme  old  age,  was 
carried  in  the  arms  of  his  disciples  to  the  assem- 


20 

blies  of  the  church,  he  did  nothing  but  repeat  this 
one  admonition :  "  Little  children,  love  one  anoth- 
er." When  asked  the  reason,  he  replied:  "Be- 
cause it  is  the  Lord's  command ;  and  this  being 
done,  all  is  done."  In  this  single  trait,  handed 
down  to  us  by  tradition,  is  fully  expressed  the 
peculiar  nature  and  personality  of  John.  It  is 
not  the  rich  variet}^  in  the  development  and  ex- 
pression of  ideas,  and  of  their  remote  relations, 
which  we  find  in  Paul.  Here,  on  the  contrary, 
are  a  few  essential  truths,  repeated  over  and  over 
in  simple  words,  which,  as  they  fell  from  the  lips 
of  Christ  himself,  had  stamped  themselves  deeply 
into  the  susceptible  spirit  of  John,  and  had  be- 
come as  it  were  ingrown  into  liis  own  peculiar  na- 
ture. With  him  all  proceeds  from  the  direct  con- 
templation of  Christ,  the  God-man,  whose  living 
image  is  ever  present  to  his  soul,  and  to  whom  he 
is  ever  directing  alike  his  hearers  and  readers. 
He  ceases  not  to  testify  of  that  which  he  has 
learned  in  daily  intercourse  with  him,  the  divine 
source  of  life,  and  which  is  to  him  of  all  things  the 
most  certain.  lie  can  find  no  words  strong  enough 
to  express  the  assurance  of  his  conviction,  that 
this  divine-human  life  was  a  reality.     Ilis  ve^'y 


21 

forms  of  expression  stand  fortli  in  strong  contrast 
with  that  sublimation  of  the  image  of  Christ  by 
the  Docetes,  of  which  we  have  already  spoken. 

In  his  historical  representation  of  Christ's  Mes- 
sianic labors,  he  distinguishes  himself  from  the 
other  Evangelists  in  this  respect, — that  he  does 
not  commence  with  the  immediately  preceding 
historical  preparation,  the  prophetic  advent  of  the 
Baptizer,  nor  yet  with  the  beginning  of  the  earthly 
life  of  Christ ;  but  rises  above  the  manifestation 
in  time,  to  that  divine  Original  which  revealed 
itself  therein.  This  characteristic  peculiarity  of 
John  meets  us  also  here,  at  the  very  commence- 
ment of  this  Epistle.  No  otherwise  could  John 
have  spoken.  The  fulness  of  the  divine  essence, 
leading  back  to  the  Eternal  Source  in  the  invisible 
God  himself,  and  the  human  manifestation, — all 
iiiis  he  contemplated  inseparably  and  as  one.  He 
beholds  in  Christ  the  revelation  in  humanity  of 
E[im  v/ho  is  exalted  above  all  time,  who  had  no 
beginning  in  time ;  who,  antecedent  to  all  crea- 
tion, was  from  the  beginning  ;  the  Eternal  Image 
of  the  unknown  divine  existence.  This  having  now 
presented  itself  in  human  utiture  to  human  appre- 
hension, it  was  necessary  that  John,  in   reprodu- 


22 

cing  the  image  of  Christ  to  the  view  of  his  readers, 
should  first  of  all  comprehend  both  these  in  one ; 
viz.  that  which  was  fi-om  the  be2:innino:, — and  that 
which  had  become,  to  those  who  witnessed  his  life 
on  earth,  an  object  of  unquestionable  physical 
perception.  He  begins,  not  with  abstract  ideas, 
but  by  referring  to  a  fact,  the  highest  of  all  facts 
in  human  history,  and  to  its  attestation  by  per- 
sonal experience. 

"  That  which  was  from  the  beginning,  which  we 
have  heard,  which  we  have  seen  with  our 

Ch.  i.  1.] 

eyes,  which  we  have  looked  upon,  and  our 
hands  have  handled."  It  is  noteworthy,  that  John 
here  expresses  himself  in  the  indeterminate  form. 
We  should  naturally  expect  a  personal  designation 
of  Him  who  v/as  from  the  beginning ;  who  in  his 
temporal  manifestation  had  permitted  himself  to  be 
seen  and  heard  and  handled,  thus  subjecting  his  re-, 
ality  to  the  test  of  all  the  senses.  Yet  John  ex- 
presses himself  thus  Indefinitely :  "  That  which 
was  from  the  beginning,  that  which  we  have  seen 
and  heard ;"  and  again  afterwards  he  resumes  the 
same  form :  "  That  which  we  have  seen  and  heard, 
declare  we  unto  you."  In  the  intermediate  clause 
also,  he  designates  him  not  personally,  but  by 


23 

Bometliing  relating  to  him, — "  of  the  word  of  life." 
These  expressions,taken  in  connection,  are  the  very 
clue  which  is  needed,  to  introduce  us  into  the  pe- 
culiar spirit  and  manner  of  John.  All  which  he 
has  to  say  to  men  proceeds  from  Christ,  and  leads 
back  to  Christ ;  it  is  Christ  himself  that  appears 
in  all ;  the  sole  object  is  to  gain  Him  entrance  to 
the  hearts  of  men,  to  bring  within  reach  of  man 
that  fountain  of  all  true  life,  the  self-communica- 
tion of  Christ.  Thus  it  naturall}^  happens  that,  in 
John's  mode  of  conception,  the  distinction  between 
the  impersonal  and  the  personal  is  lost  from  view. 
That  which  he  has  to  announce,  that  which  was 
from  the  beginning,  that  which  he  has  seen  and 
heard,  is  no  other  than  the  self-revelation  and  self- 
imparting  of  Him,  who  w^as  from  the  beginning. 

John  does  not  immediately  carry  out  this 
thought,  in  the  form  of  expression  with  . 
which  he  had  begun ;  but  interrupting  him- 
self, expresses  in  a  new  form  what  was  already  in 
his  mind  and  filled  his  soul  while  writing  the  first 
words :  "  Of  the  Word  of  life  (for  the  Life  was 
manifested,  and  we  have  seen  it,  and  bear  witness, 
and  show  unto  you  that  Eternal  Life  which  was 
with  the  Father,  and  was  manifested  unto  us)". 


24 

What  now  are  we  to  understand  by  "  the  Word 
of  Life"?  Shall  we,  as  elsewhere,  understand 
"  word"  in  the  sense  of  announcement  ?  We  must 
then  refer  it  to  that  original  proclamation  of  the 
Life,  which  was  made  by  Christ.  Even  thus  the 
mind  would  still  be  directed  to  the  appearing  of 
Christ  himself:  as,  in  what  immediately  follows, 
not  merely  the  proclamation  of  the  Life  is  spoken 
of,  but  the  manifestation  of  the  life  in  its  self-rev- 
elation among  men  ;  and  also  the  expression  "  That 
which  was  from  the  beginning"  refers,  as  we  have 
seen,  not  merely  to  an  indefinite  something,  but 
to  Him  who  was  from  the  beginning.  He  it  is, 
then,  whom  we  here  find  repi'esented  as  the  "  Word 
of  life."  The  mind  is  tlins  directed  to  what  John 
calls  "  The  Word,"  at  the  begini>ing  of  his  Gos- 
pel. Christ  liimself  is  the  Word,  in  whom  the 
hidden  being  of  God  has  revealed  itself  Since,  in 
his  temporal  manifestation  as  the  revelation  of 
God  in  human  nature,  he  is  the  perfect  expression 
of  the  divine  nature  in  human  form  ;  this  his  tem- 
poral manifestation  is  by  John  referred  back  to 
the  Eternal  AVord,  in  which  the  hidden  being  of 
God  originally  imaged  and  revealed  itself,  became 
objective  to  itself, — in  which  the  whole  creation 


25 

had  its  archetype.  As  the  spirit  of  man,  before 
it  reveals  itself  outwardly  in  the  spoken  word,  ex- 
presses itself  to  itself,  unfolds  and  becomes  objec- 
tive to  itself,  in  an  inner  word,  the  word  of  self-con- 
sciousness ;  so  in  God,  this  Word  of  his  eternal  self- 
revelation  is  to  be  distinguished  from  his  hidden, 
unfathomable  being.  It  was  this  Word  which 
was  from  the  beginning.  It  is  this  Word  which 
John  calls  "  the  Word  of  Life."  By  life  here  he 
understands  the  divine  life  originating  in  God, 
proceeding  from  him  alone  as  the  only  true' life. 
Since  now  all  communication  of  life  from  God  is 
through  the  medium  of  this  Word,  it  is  itself  the 
fountain  of  true  life,  and  John  calls  it  absolutely 
the  Word  of  Life.  He  then  proceeds,  under  this 
form  of  conception,  to  express  what  he  had  in 
mind  at  his  opening  words,  what  he  wished  to  tes- 
tify to  his  readers  as  something  made  certain  to 
him  by  personal  observation  and  experience.  Hav- 
ing designated  Christ  as  himself  the  Word  of  Life, 
he  adds,  under  the  same  form  of  thought,  the  dec- 
laration that  the  Life  absolutely,  He  whose  nature 
is  life,  the  divine  life-fountain,  has  revealed  itself 
in  a  human  manifestation.  He  claims  to  have  been 
an  eye-A\'itness  of  this  self-revelation  of  the  Life. 


The  eternal  Life  itself,  which  as  the  Word  was 
hidden  with  the  Father,  has  appeared  in  a  self- 
revelation  in  humanity ; — such,  and  no  other  than 
this,  was  the  appearing  of  Christ.  John  testifies 
of  that  eternal  Life,  which  appeared  in  Christ  in 
order  to  impart  itself  to  men ;  to  impart  to  them 
this  life  which  constitutes  His  whole  being,  and 
whose  fountain  he  himself  is.  This  it  was  the  ob- 
ject of  John's  testimony  to  make  known. 
Resuming  accordingly  what  he  had  begun,  he 
now  proceeds  in  the  same  form:    "That 

Ch.  i.  8.] 

which  we  have  seen  and  heard  declare  we 
unto  you,  that  ye  also  may  have  fellowship  with 
us." 

Having,  therefore,  been  himself  an  eye  ana  ear- 
witness  of  the  self-revelation  of  that  eternal  Life 
which  seeks  to  impart  itself  to  man,  John  declares 
what  he  has  seen  and  heard,  that  those  who  hear 
may  be  led  by  it  into  that  divine  fellowship  of  life 
in  which  all  are  to  become  one.  By  the  "  fellow- 
ship with  us,"  which  he  represents  as  the  object 
for  which  he  declares  this,  he  means  fellowship 
with  those  who  testified,  as  original  eye-witnesses, 
of  the  eternal  Life  which  had  made  its  appearance 
in  humanity ;  a  fellowship  therefore  derived  from 


27 

that  original  fellowship  witli  the  divine  life-foun- 
tain so  revealed,  a  fellowship  with  the  Apostles 
grounded  in  fellowship  with  Christ.  AU  fellow- 
ship of  believers  with  one  another,  in  the  Apos- 
tle's view,  springs  from  that  original  fact  of  fel- 
lowship with  Christ.  Thus  is  formed  his  concep 
tion  of  the  Church. 

This  is  of  special  importance  as  a  guard  against 
the  tendency,  which  is  ever  reappearing,  to  exter- 
nalize the  idea  of  the  church,  to  attach  an  undue 
value  to  a  certain  visible  organization  ;  while  it  is 
forgotten  that  fellowship  with  Christ  is  the  main 
point,  the  essential  element  of  the  whole  true 
church,— which,  issuing  from  this  source,  grounded 
in  this  fellowship,  may  appear  in  a  variety  of  out- 
ward forms.  We  must  ever  bear  in  mind  that 
where  this  fellowship  exists,  there,  whatever  de- 
fects may  still  cleave  to  it,  is  a  true  church ;  as  in- 
deed there  is  no  form  of  divine  manifestation  in 
sinful  human  nature  wholly  free  from  defect. 

In  explanation  of  what  he  understands  by  this 
fellowship,  the  Apostle  immediately  adds ;  "  And 
truly  our  fellowship  is  with  the  Father,  and  with 
his  Son  Jesus  Christ." 

Fellowship  with  the  Father,  who  can  be  truly 


28 

known  as  Father  only  in  this  self-re\'elation  through 

the  Son,  is  hei-e  i-epresented  as  effected 
Ch.i.  4.]  '  ^ 

through  the  medium  of  fellowship  with 
the  Son.  And  since  in  this  fellowship  is  grounded 
that  eternal  divine  life,  in  which  alone  true  bles- 
sedness and  joy  can  be  found ;  John  represents  it 
as  the  object  of  his  whole  preaching,  as  likewise 
of  this  Letter  (intended  to  revive  in  their  hearts 
the  contents  of  that  preaching,  in  opposition  to 
all  the  corruptions  and  impurities  of  which  we 
have  spoken)  to  promote  that  joy:  "And  these 
things  write  we  unto  you  that  your  joy  may  be 
full."  All  impurities  and  corruptions  of  the  chris- 
tian's inward  and  outward  life,  must  also  intro- 
duce disturbance  into  the  joy  or  blessedness 
grounded  in  the  divine  fellowship  of  life  with 
Christ.  In  this  pastoral  Letter,  designed  to  avert 
such  a  danger,  what  he  seeks  is  this :  that  their 
joy  may  be  full,  that  in  fellowship  with  Christ  they 
may  find  their  full  joy. 

In  this  Epistle,  promises  and  the  stipulated  con- 
*         dition  of  their  fulfilment,  that  which  is  to 

Ch.  i.  6.] 

be  performed  on  the  part  of  those  to  whom 
the  promises  are  addressed,  are  presented  in  con- 
stant interchange.     "With  religious  truth  there  is 


29 

always  connected  a  practical  application  to  the 
moral  conduct  and  course  of  life ;  and  nothing 
is  said  in  reference  to  the  latter  which  is  not  de- 
ducible  from  the  former.  As  in  his  opening 
words,  where  he  speaks  as  an  eye-witness  of  the 
appearing  of  Christ,  John  plainly  has  reference  to 
that  erroneous  suLliination  of  the  Idea  of  Christ; 
so  here  when  he  is  speaking  of  the  practical,  we 
cannot  fail  to  perceive  an  implied  rej^rehension  of 
that  secularized  Christianity  of  custom  and  habit. 
"  This  then  is  the  message  which  we  have  heard  of 
him,  -and  declare  unto  you :  That  God  is  light,^. 
and  in  him  is  no  darkness  at  all." 

First  of  all,  he  represents  God  under  an  image 
which  they  had  doubtless  often  heard  from  his 
own  mouth,  as  he  too  had  received  it  from  the 
lips  of  Christ:  "God  is  light,  and  in  him  is  no 
darkness."  His  nature  is  light;  from  Him  all 
darkness  is  excluded.  He  is  the  opposite  of  all 
darkness.  Light,  in  the  Holy  Scriptures,  and  es- 
pecially in  the  writings  of  John,  is  often  used  as 
the  image  of  the  Divine ;  darkness,  on  the  other 
hand  as  the  image  of  the  Undivine.  Truth,  holi- 
ness, bliss,  all  these  may  be  designated  as  light, 
since  they  all  belong  to  the  nature  of  the  Divine ; 


30 

as  falsehood,  wickedness,  and  misery  form  the 
characteristics  of  the  Undivine.  "What  is  partic- 
ularly represented  by  the  image  of  light  in  this 
passage,  will  appear  from  the  exhortation  which 
is  founded  on  it.  It  enjoins  a  course  of  life  con- 
trary to  all  that  is  unholy,  and  the  ground-thought 
must  therefore  be,  that  the  nature  of  God  is  holi- 
ness ;  all  that  is  unholy  is  alien  to  him. 

From  this  view  of  the  divine  nature,  the  Apos- 
tle now  deduces  what  is  required  as  the 

Ch.i.  6,7.] 

condition  of  standing  in  fellowship  with 
God ;  the  signs  by  which  this  fellowship  will  man- 
ifest itself  in  the  life  ;  and  on  the  other  hand,  by 
what  signs  it  is  to  be  known  that  no  such  fel- 
lowship exists.  "  If  w^e  say  that  we  have  fellow- 
ship with  him  and  walk  in  darkness,  we  lie,  and 
do  not  the  truth :  but  if  we  walk  in  the  light,  as 
he  is  in  the  light,  we  have  fellowship  one  with 
another,  and  the  blood  of  Jesus  Christ  his  Son 
cleanseth  us  from  all  sin." 

The  thought  here  lying  at  the  basis  is  this :  that 
since  all  spiritual  fellowship  presupposes  an  affinity 
of  nature,  and  this  inward  fellowship  of  nature  must 
also  have  an  outward  manifestation  in  the  life ; 
so  no  fellowship  with  God  can  exist  without  a  life 


31 

conformed  to  God.  Since  then  God  is  liglit,  fel- 
lowship witli  him  must  manifest  itself  through  a 
life  which  is  full  of  light ;  fellowship  with  the 
God  whose  nature  is  holiness,  through  a  holj^ 
course  of  life.  John  does  not  here  mean  a  qual- 
ity of  the  life- walk  required  for  the  first  attain- 
ment of  fellowship  with  God ;  but  assuming  this 
divine  fellowship  of  life,  received  through  faith  in 
the  Eedeemer,  as  already  existing,  his  object  is  to 
point  out  the  tests,  whether  the  claim  to  sucli  a 
fellowship  be  true  or  false, — whether  the  Chris- 
tianity which  is  professed  be  a  true,  or  merely  a 
seeming  and  pretended  one.  This  thought  is  ex- 
pressed, in  John's  peculiar  manner,  both  in  the 
negative  and  affirmative  form.  He  first  says,  in 
opposition  to  that  mere  seeming  Christianity,  that 
he  who  leads  an  ungodly  life,  and  yet  claims  to 
be  in  fellowship  with  God,  thereby  makes  himself 
guilty  of  a  lie.  Full  of  significance  is  the  expres- 
sion, '^  We  do  not  the  truth" ;  an  expression  be- 
longing to  the  depth  of  conception  peculiar  to 
John.  With  Him  truth  is  not  limited  in  its  aj)- 
plication  to  speech  merely ;  it  embraces  the  entire 
life.  The  entire  life  has  its  root  either  in  false- 
hood or  in  truth.     Truthfulness  in  speech  is  but 


32 

one  index  of  that  tiutli  which  embraces,  fills,  vital- 
izes the  whole  inner  and  outer  life.  Hence,  of 
one  who  makes  claim  to  something  which  is  con- 
tradicted by  his  course  of  life  it  is  said,  that  his 
whole  life  is  alien  from  the  truth,  that  he  does  not 
practice  the  truth,  that  his  life  is  chargeable  with 
falsehood.  Speech  appears  also  as  an  action ; — - 
"  We  DO  not  the  truth." 

In  contrast  with  this,  John  designates  "  Walk- 
ing in  the  Light,"  in  holiness,  as  a  mark  of  fellow- 
ship with  God  who  is  in  the  light,  wdio  reveals 
himself  in  holiness.  "  If  we  walk  in  the  light  as 
He  is  in  the  light,  then  have  we  fellowship  one 
with  another."  He  does  not  speak  here  directly 
of  fellow^ship  with  God,  but  of  the  fellowship  of 
believers  with  one  another ;  but  in  this  is  necessa- 
rily presupposed  fellow^ship  with  God  through 
Christ,  as  that  from  w^hich  the  fellowship  of  be- 
lievers with  one  another  first  proceeds.  John 
thus  distinguishes  between  those  who  belong,  as 
true  members,  to  the  fellowship  of  Christians  (in 
other  words  to  the  church,  a  designation  never 
used  by  John)  and  those  who  belong  to  it  only 
in  appearance  and  not  in  truth,  those  whose  pre- 
tensions  are  contradicted  by  their  ungodly  life. 


33 

Fellowsliip  with  God,  as  eifected  througli  Christ, , 
and  the  fellowship  of  believers  with  each  other,  is 
here  one  and  the  same  thing. 

If  now  the  hfe  of  believers  while  here  on  earth 
were  already  a  perfect  fellowship  with  God,  if 
their  course  of  life  were  a  walking  in  the  light 
free  from  darkness  of  every  kind,  and  unstained 
by  any  farther  act  of  sin,  then  John  would  have 
had  no  occasion  to  add  anything  more.  But  he 
was  well  aware  that  even  in  believers,  although 
their  life  is  in  its  determining  tendency  a  walking 
in  the  light,  yet  the  dark,  the  sinful,  still  mingle 
with  it,  their  disturbing  influence;  the  former 
stand-point  of  darkness  and  sin,  from  which  re- 
demption has  set  them  free,  still  remains  in  its  ef- 
fects. Hence,  this  "  walking  in  the  light"  must  be 
developed  in  a  continuous  conflict  wdth  the  former 
darkness;  from  the  light  already  received,  the 
whole  life  must  be  gradually  transformed  into 
light.  And  hence,  in  reference  to  that  sinfulness 
which  still  cleaves  to  the  believer  and  opjDOses  it- 
self to  the  light,  he  says,  that  where  that  walking 
in  the  light  exists  as  the  determining  tendency,  the 
mark  of  fellowship  with  God,  there  the  blood  of 


34 

Jesns  Christ  will  make  known  its  i^urifying  efficacy, 
its  power  to  cleanse  from  all  still  inhering  sin. 

In  the  purification  through  the  blood  of  Christ, 
we  are  obviously  not  to  understand  the  blood  of 
Christ  literally,  nor  an  outward  literal  purification 
by  it,  anymore  than  the  sprinkling  of  the  conscience 
with  the  blood  of  Christ,  spoken  of  in  the  Epistle 
to  the  Hebrews,  is  to  be  so  understood.  Only  a 
spiritual  cleansing  can  here  be  meant,  and  conse- 
quently only  a  spiritual  means  of  cleansing.  It  is 
necessary  to  refer  back  the  sensible  imagery  to  the 
thought  imaged  therein.  It  is  the  language  of  the 
Holy  Scriptures,  the  language  of  life ;  according 
to  which  one  characteristic  of  the  whole  is  put  for 
the  whole  itself;  and  especially  is  that  which  ap- 
pears as  the  crowning  point  put  for  the  whole  with 
all  its  characteristics,  so  that  the  single  character- 
istic must  be  conceived  of  in  that  connection,  in 
union  with  the  sum  of  all  the  others,  in  order  to 
be  rightly  understood.  The  blood  of  Christ, then, 
must  be  conceived  of  in  its  full  significance,  as  it 
was  present  to  the  view  of  the  Apostle,  viz.  as 
both  a  Doing  and  a  Suffering ;  it  being  on  the  one 
hand  a  suffering  for  the  guilt  of  humanity,  and 
presenting  on  the  other,  in  the  perfect  holiness  of 


35 

the  life  of  Christ,  an  offset  to  the  sin  of  humanity, 
a  thought  which  we  shall  hereafter  find  still  fur- 
ther developed  in  other  expressions  of  John.  Since 
now  this  suffering  of  Christ,  once  for  all,  possesses 
this  redeeming  and  purifying  significance,  it  con- 
tinues to  perform  its  work  in  all  those  who  through 
faith  enter  into  fellowship  with  Christ,  till  all  in 
them  that  is  sinful  shall  be  cleansed  away,  and  all 
be  transformed  into  light.  In  this  idea  of  purifi- 
cation two  distinct  things  are  included ;  namely, 
first,  that  the  sin  Avhich  yet  remains  shall  no 
longer  form  a  hindrance  to  fellowship  with  God, 
it  shall  be  as  if  already  done  away, — the  forgive- 
ness of  sins  j  and  secondly,  that  the  still  operating 
sinful  element  shall  actually  be  more  and  more 
cleansed  away, — the  progressive  purification  of 
the  whole  life.  All  this  is  an  ever  progressing  ap- 
propriation of  the  once  perfected  redemption. 

So  in  what  John  here  says,  we  find  two  different 
things  expressed.  It  is  assumed  that  there  is  sin 
yet  cleaving  to  those  who  are  walking  in  light ; 
though  in  fellowship  with  Christ,  they  are  still  in 
constant  need  of  redemption  through  him,  in  con- 
stant need  of  him  as  the  Redeemer ;  that  we  who 
are  walking  in  the  light  with  Christ  in  us,  have 


36 

also  still  need  of  Christ  foe  us.  To  those  who, 
while  walking  uprightly  in  the  light,  are  yet  daily 
conscious  to  themselves  of  the  still  remaining  in- 
fluence of  sin ;  who  cannot  but  perceive  in  their 
own  life  much  whereby  the  light  which  is  in  them 
is  darkened,  and  who  might  be  disquieted  in  con- 
science, when  told  that  only  those  who  walk  in 
the  light  can  stand  in  fellowship  with  God  who  is 
Light ;  to  them  is  offered  the  consoling  assurance 
of  entire  jDurification  from  their  yet  inhering  sin. 
But  the  Apostle  guards  also  against  the  self-decep- 
tion of  those,  who  trust  to  purification  through 
the  blood  of  Christ  without  a  course  of  life  cor- 
responding to  such  an  expectation,  without  the 
outward  signs  of  an  inward  divine  fellowship  of 
life  through  Christ.  Only  those  are  to  expect 
this  purification,  who,  through  the  determining 
tendency  of  their  lives,  make  it  manifest  that 
they  stand  in  that  divine  fellowship  and  are  sanc- 
tified thereby.  Thus  the  close  connection  between 
the  Christ  in  us  and  the  Christ  foe  us,  is  here  in- 
dicated. 

But  it  is  the  Apostle's  aim  to  meet  the  mistake 
on  both  sides ;  on  the  one  hand,  as  held  by 
those  who  suppose  they  may  trust  to  Christ 


37 

for  us,  witliout  the  Christ  in  us ;  and  on  the  other, 
by  those  who  think  that  with  the  Christ  in  us, 
there  is  no  longer  need  of  the  Christ  for  us,  and 
who  look  upon  themselves  as  already  free  from 
sin.  He  therefore  continues  to  urge,  in  opposition 
to  the  latter  view,  the  still  remaining  need  of  re- 
demption on  the  part  of  the  sanctified:  "If  we 
say  that  we  have  no  sin,  we  deceive  ourselves,  and 
the  truth  is  not  in  us."  If  then  those  who  are 
walking  in  the  light,  suppose  themselves  to  be  al- 
ready entirely  free  from  sin,  feel  not  the  perpetual 
consciousness  of  its  still  indwelling  power ;  this 
to  John  is  an  indication  of  self-deception,  a  token 
that  the  truth  has  not  yet  become  the  ruling  ele- 
ment in  the  inner  and  outer  life.  It  is  clear  that 
he  here  makes  no  exception,  that  he  includes  him- 
self also  among  those  who  are  still  defiled  wdth. 
sin. 

The  two  succeeding  verses  have  reference  also 
to  the  believer's  ever-continued  need  of 

[Ch.  i.  9, 10. 

redemption  and  purification.    "  If  we  con- 
fess our  sins,  he  is  faithful  and  just  to  forgive  us 
our  sins,  and  to  cleanse  us  from  all  unrighteous- 
ness.    If  we  say  that  we  have   not  sinned,  we 
make  him  a  liar,  and  his  word  is  not  in  us." 


38 

The  ground  for  the  believer's  confidence,  under 
this  consciousness  of  still  inhering  sin,  is  thus  pre- 
sented by  the  Apostle  in  the  faithfulness  and 
righteousness  of  God.  For  the  faithfulness  of  God 
includes  in  itself  his  truthful  fulfilment  of  the 
promises  which  he  has  given.  It  necessarily 
implies,  that  what  he  has  promised  he  will  cer- 
tainly bestow,  provided  only  that  believers  on 
their  part  meet  the  condition  affixed  to  the  fulfil- 
ment of  the  promise.  By  the  faithfulness  of  God 
is  meant,  the  harmony  of  his  action  with  itself 
and  with  his  own  natui-e.  It  is  implied  therein, 
that  He  will  certainly  perform  what  his  word,  his 
promises,  the  wants  implanted  in  the  soul  and 
waked  into  conscious  life  by  his  providence,  have 
taught  men  to  expect  from  Him ;  that  his  dealings 
with  men  will  certainly  be  in  accordance  with  the 
wants  and  expectations  thus  excited ;  that  in  his 
dealings  all  parts  will  correspond,  beginning  mid- 
dle and  end  will  be  in  harmony ;  no  contradiction, 
no  discord  in  any  part.  Since  then  God  is  truth, 
it  must  follow  as  a  necessary  consequence  that, 
having  through  his  word,  through  the  sending  of 
the  Redeemer  and  his  sufferings  for  humanity, 
through   the   influence  of  his  spirit   upon   their 


39 

hearts,  promised  forgiveness  of  sin  to  those  who 
Ix-lieve;  he  will  assuredly  suffer  nothing  of  this 
to  fail,  he  will  fulfil  the  promise  which  he  has  given, 
if  they  will  but  conform  to  the  conditions  with 
which  the  promise  is  connected.  But  righteous- 
ness is  here  conjoined  with  faithfulness.  This 
might  at  first  seem  strange.  We  should  rather 
expect  that  forgiveness  of  sins  would  he  repre- 
sented as  an  act  of  divine  love  and  mercy.  But 
we  must  here  seek  for  a  relation,  according  to 
which  forgiveness  of  sin  can  properly  be  ascribed 
to  the  divine  righteousness.  The  true  index  to  the 
Apostle's  meaning  is  found  in  the  union  here  of 
faithfulness  with  righteousness.  Righteousness, 
then,  must  here  be  understood  in  a  sense  akin 
to  faithfulness.  Now  we  call  him  righteous  who 
gives  to  each  one  his  own,  to  each  his  due,  what 
his  position,  the  relation  in  which  he  stands  to  the 
other,  give  the  right  to  expect.  God's  righteous- 
ness is  manifested  in  the  observance  of  the  laws 
which  he  has  himself  established  in  the  moral 
world.  Its  office  is  the  administration  of  these 
laws.  Redemption,  the  forgiveness  of  sin,  is  in- 
deed primarily  the  work  of  divine  love  ;  yet,  that 
Drovision  being  once  brought  about  through  his 


40 

love  and  mercy,  the  divine  rigliteousness  now  re- 
veals itself  in  the  observance  of  the  laws,  accord- 
ing to  which  redemption  and  forgiveness  are  to  be 
bestowed  on  man, — in  the  administration  of  the 
order  established  in  the  work  of  redemption. 
God,  the  Righteous,  gives  to  each  what  belongs  to 
him;  he  truly  performs  what  the  redeemed,  as 
such,  have  reason  to  expect  of  him  under  the  given 
conditions.  The  original  provision  is  the  fruit  of 
divine  love ;  the  administration  of  its  established 
laws,  the  work  of  divine  righteousness.  Hence, 
in  this  view,  the  divine  righteousness  stands  in 
close  relation  to  the  divine  faithfulness  ;  and  is  the 
pledge  that  if  the  redeemed  fulfil  the  laws,  the 
conditions,  according  to  which  and  under  which 
forgiveness  is  to  be  imparted,  God  will  truly  be- 
stow on  them  the  forgiveness  promised,  will  com- 
plete Avhat  he  has  Ijegun,  that  he  will  do  his  part 
if  the  redeemed  do  theirs. 

The  condition  to  be  fulfilled  on  the  part  of  the 
believer,  is  expressed  in  the  words :  "  If  we  con- 
fess our  sins."  Of  course  it  is  not  an  outward  con- 
fession of  sin  which  is  here  spoken  of,  but  an  in- 
ward act,  grounded  in  the  whole  inward  direction 
of  the  spirit ;  as  that  which  is  thereby  to  be  ap- 


41 

propriated  and  received,  that  for  wliich  man  is 
thereby  to  be  made  meet,  is  also  something  purely 
inward.  It  is  therefore  that  inward  confession  of 
sin  before  God, — the  consciousness  of  sin  both  in 
general,  and  in  its  manifestation  in  particular  sin- 
ful acts, — whereby,  in  a  spiritual  sense,  man  draws 
near  to  God.  In  this  it  is  necessarily  implied,  that 
he  is  deeply  penetrated  with  the  sense  of  still  in- 
hering sin ;  recognizes  the  sinful  as  such  in  all  its 
single  forms ;  and  with  a  deep  feeling  of  sorrow 
on  account  of  it,  begs  of  God  forgiveness  of  sin 
and  purification  from  all  remaining  sinful  tendency. 
All  communications  of  God  to  man, — man,  to 
whom  God  imparts  himself  not  after  a  law  of  nat- 
ural necessity,  not  by  a  process  of  constraint,  but 
as  to  a  being  gifted  with  freedom, — are  conditioned 
on  his  own  voluntary  acceptance,  the  fj'ee  surren- 
der of  himself  to  the  divine  communication.  As 
in  the  words  of  our  Lord,  God  is  represented  as 
giving  only  to  those  who  pray  (and  prayer  is  noth- 
ing else  than  this  direction  of  the  spirit  towards 
God  in  the  feeling  of  personal  want)  so  here,  con- 
fession of  sin  is  made  the  necessary  condition  of 
that  gift  of  God,  which  consists  in  the  forgiveness 
of  sin,  as  evidence  of  the  free  appropriating  ac- 


42 

cej)taTice  of  the  blessing.  AVitli  forgiveness  of  sin 
is  here  conjoined  the  cleansing  from  all  unright- 
eousness. This  would  not  have  been  added,  unless 
something  new,  something  additional,  were  to  be 
designated  by  it;  as  indicated  by  the  emphatic 
expression :  "  feo^i  all  uneighteousness."  We 
cannot  but  perceive  that  a  distinction  is  here  made 
between  forgiveness  of  sin,  and  the  progressive 
work  of  purification  from  all  remaining  sin.  With 
the  forgiveness  of  past  sin, is  necessarily  connected 
purification  from  all  the  sin  which  still  remains,  as 
a  security  against  relapse  into  like  sins. 

To  that  afiirmative  proposition,  the  negative  is 
now  added.  With  the  confession  of  sin  is  con- 
trasted the  boastful  declaration,  and  of  course  the 
inward  view  and  feelinsr  which  dictates  it:  "We 
have  no  sin."  This  implies  first,  that  he  who  says 
it  is  wholly  unconscious  of  still  inhering  sin,  that 
he  regards  himself  as  sinless.  In  this  again  two 
things  are  included,  viz.  first,  that  he  has  no  un- 
derstanding of  what  is  implied  in  a  sinless  state, 
of  the  true  nature  of  tliat  holiness  for  which  man 
was  created,  and  for  which  he  is  to  be  new  created, 
to  be  born  again ;  and  that  he  has  not  rightly  com- 
pared himself  with  that  standard  which  he  is  re- 


43 

quired  to  reach,  has  not  examined  and  tested  him- 
self by  the  model  of  the  divine  word,  in  the  mirror 
of  the  divine  law,  in  the  divine  light.  Angl  secondly, 
it  is  implied  that  he  does  n(jt  recognize  the  sinful 
as  such  in  its  particular  acts,  but  has  learnt  to 
palliate  it  to  himself,  to  deceive  his  conscience  in 
regard  to  it.  The  guilt  and  the  perverseness 
of  such  a  position  is  now  represented  by  the 
Apostle  as  consisting  in  this,  viz.  that  it  makes  God 
a  liar;  that  is,  by  such  a  position  we  show  that 
we  regard  God  as  a  liar,  we  deny  him  as  the  God 
of  truth.  First,  inasmuch  as  the  word  of  God 
uniformly  rej^resents  us  as  sinners,  and  seeks  to 
awaken  in  us  a  consciousness  of  our  sins  ;  we,  by 
declaring  that  we  have  no  sin,  accuse  the  word  of 
God,  and  God  himself  speaking  through  it,  of 
falsehood.  Secondly,  since  God  in  sending  to  us 
Jesus  as  the  Redeemer  from  sin,  has  thereby  de- 
clared that  we  are  ever  in  need  of  continued  re- 
demption ;  we  make  him  guilty  of  a  lie, — assert- 
ing by  this  position  of  ours,  that  although  it  is 
through  Christ  we  have  attained  to  our  present 
state  of  religious  development,  yet  as  being  now 
sinless,  we  are  no  longer  in  need  of  him  as  Re- 
deemer.    Hence  the  Apostle  charges  upon  such, 


44 

tliat  tlie  word  of  God  is  not  in  them  ;  an  expres- 
sion equivalent  to  the  former  declaration,  that  the 
truth  is  not  in  them.  By  it  is  meant,  that  the 
word  of  God  does  not  dwell  in  such  as  the  ani- 
mating princi];)le  of  their  inner  life,  or  that  they 
do  not  dwell  in  it ;  Avhich  is  one  with  saying  that 
the  truth  dwells  not  in  them  as  their  life-element, 
that  their  life  is  alienated  from  the  truth.  Though 
in  their  external  profession  they  acknowledge  the 
word  of  God,  they  have  not  given  it  an  abode  in 
their  inner  life  and  consciousness.  Their  judgment 
of  themselves  is  in  contradiction  to  it.  The  word 
of  God  is  to  them  a  merely  external  thing. 


CHAPTER    II. 

The  Apostle  now  turns  to  those  for  whose  sake 
he  writes,  as  a  father  to  his  children.  Ad- 
dressing  them  personally  as  his  children,  he 
presses  home  upon  their  hearts  a  spiritual  father's 
admonitory  words :  "  My  little  children,  these 
things  write  I  unto  you,  that  ye  sin  not."  The 
expression,  "these  things,"  glances  back  to  that 
main  topic  which  had  been  his  starting-point,  viz. 
that  it  is  only  while  walking  in  the  light,  that  we 
can  be  certain  of  that  divine  fellowship  of  life  be- 
stowed through  Christ.  But  with  this  all  that 
follows  is  connected,  and  to  all  this  the  expression 
has  reference.  All  which  he  had  said  to  them 
respecting  the  sin  still  cleaving  to  the  christian, 
and  of  the  progressive  redemption  from  it  for 
which  they  may  hope,  has  had  for  its  aim,  not  to 
make  them  lenient  towar<ls  their  o^^'n  sius,  but  on 
the  contrary  to  excite  them  to  n  continued  and  un- 


46 

wearied  conflict  with  sin.  In  order  to  apprehend 
and  apply  the  admonition  to  abstain  from  sin,  as 
understood  by  the  Aj)Oritle  after  the  law  of  Christ, 
our  conception  of  the  nature  of  sin,  of  what  sin 
is,  must  be  very  diflerent  from  that  derived  from 
the  superficial  moral  judgment  of  the  world.  For 
this  it  is  requisite  that,  trying  ourselves  by  that 
higher  standard,  we  should  learn  to  detect  what  is 
sinful  in  our  own  life  in  order  that  we  may  over- 
come and  avoid  it ;  and  as  the  source  of  the  need- 
ed resolution,  confidence,  and  alacrity  for  this,  is 
presupposed  the  sense  of  divine  forgiveness,  and 
reliance  upon  the  divinely  purifying  power  of  the 
work  of  redemption.  Thus  we  perceive  how  all 
that  precedes,  starting  from  that  central  tliought, 
serves  as  a  ba^isforthe  exhortation,  "That  we  sin 
not." 

That  connection,  Avhich  we  have  noticed,  is  al- 
ways present  to  the  Aj)ostle  in  tlie  light  of  his 
christian  self-knowledge  and  his  knowledge  of  man. 
Hence,  to  the  unconditional  exhortation  to  sin  not, 
he  is  constrained  to  add  a  ground  of  consolation 
to  those,  who,  while  honestly  striving  against  sin 
have  yet  fallen  under  temptation,  and  who  might 
thereby  become  wholly  unsettled  in  regard  to  the 


47 

work  of  their  salvation,  and  be  driven  to  despair. 
Another  would  have  given  this  the  adversative 
form :  But  if  any  one  sin.  In  the  style,  however, 
of  the  undialectic  and  unrhetorical  John,  there  is 
no  occasion  to  change  the  connective  word ;  as  in 
many  cases  where  another,  Paul  for  instance,  would 
have  made  this  change,  with  him  the  simple  "  and" 
suffices  for  all  the  relations  of  his  several  propo- 
sitions to  one  another. 

Accordingly  he  says :  "  And  if  any  man  sin, 
we  have  an  advocate  with  the  Father, 

[Ch.  ii.  1,2. 

Jesus  Christ  the  righteous :  and  he  is  the 
propitiation  for  our  sins :  and  not  for  ours  only, 
but  also  for  the  sins  of  the  whole  world.'*  To  those 
who  are  weighed  down  by  consciousness  of  the 
sin  still  cleaving  to  them,  and  of  defeat  in  conflict 
with  it,  John  thus  extends  the  cheering  assurance 
of  a  mediator  with  the  Father  in  Heaven.  .  This 
mediator  is  Jesus  Christ  the  Righteous,  that  is,  the 
Holy ;  righteousness  here  being  taken  in  its  high- 
est and  absolute  sense,  namely,  as  what  is  right, 
what  is  as  it  should  be,  what  corresponds  to  the 
idea  of  moral  perfectness.  He  bids  them,  after 
having  once  attained  to  repentance  for  that  still 
inhering  sin,  not  to  abandon  themselves  to  the 


48 

fruitless  anguish  of  despair,  not  to  consume  them- 
selves in  a  perpetual  l)rooding  over  their  sins ;  but 
on  the  contrary,  to  turn  with  full  confidence  to 
Him  who  is  their  everlasting  advocate  with  the 
Father,  Jesus  Christ  the  Holy. 

When  man,  havino^  become  conscious  of  the 
chasm,  between  himself  in  his  sin  and  imperfec- 
tion and  the  holy  and  perfect  God,  sinks  under 
the  feeling  of  separation  and  estrangement  from 
that  Beins:  towards  whom  hishia^her  nature  strives 
to  rise ;  there  then  awakens  in  him  the  want  of  a 
mediation,  by  which  this  chasm  may  be  filled. 
Hence,  in  all  religions,  the  founding  of  a  priest- 
hood, the  recognition  of  a  mediating  agency  be- 
tween God  and  man,  to  whom  he  may  address  his 
prayers  when  he  ventures  not  to  turn  immediately 
to  God.  There  is,  however,  in  every  such  human 
priesthood  this  inherent  inconsistency,  that  they 
who  are  themselves  sinful  and  in  need  of  redemp- 
tion like  all  other  men,  should  undertake  for  oth- 
ers the  mediation  which  they  themselves  need  in 
common  with  them.  Thus,  the  undeniable  want 
which  lies  at  the  foundation  of  the  priesthood 
universally,  in  connection  with  its  insufficiency  to 
meet  that  want,  becomes  a  prophetic  indication 


49 

of  Him  who  alone  can  truly  satisfy  it ;  of  Him 
through  whom  the  idea  of  a  priesthood,  so  deeply 
grounded  in  the  nature  of  man,  found  its  realiza- 
tion, and  with  it  all  previous  forms  of  priesthood 
their  final  end.  This  relation  of  Christ,  to  God 
and  to  humanity,  is  the  especial  object  of  .the 
Epistle  to  the  Hebrews.  As  man,  he  is  in  all 
respects  akin  to  those  who  seek  his  aid,  has  par- 
taken of  their  nature  with  all  its  necessities,  all  its 
infirmities,  sin  excepted  ;  has  himself  experienced 
all  their  conflicts  and  temptations,  and  in  all  has 
approved  himself  as  The  Holy.  Only  as  the 
Holy,  as  the  realization  of  the  holy  archetype  of 
humanity,  can  he  stand  as  the  substitute  of  sin- 
ners before  the  Father  in  Heaven. 
,  This  is  not  to  be  so  understood,  as  if  the  for- 
giveness of  the  sins  of  believers  were  something 
yet  to  be  obtained  by  the  intercession  of  Christ. 
There  is  presupposed  here,  as  a^^pears  from  the 
immediately  following  connection,  that  redemp- 
tion, that  reconciliation  of  man  with  God,  which 
was  effected  once  for  all  through  the  holy  life  and 
the  sufferings  of  Christ.  Jesus  Christ,  as  The 
Holy,  is  here  contemplated  in  connection  with  his 
whole  work  accomplished  on  earth,  wherein  lie 


50 

manifested  Mmself  especially  as  The  Holy  One,— - 
in  the  connection  of  his  present  life  with  God  and 
previous  life  on  earth.  There  is  also  presupposed, 
as  already  existing,  that  entirely  new  relation  to 
God  into  which  those  are  brought  who  are  recon- 
ciled to  Him  through  Christ.  It  is  not  said :  We 
have  an  advocate  with  God,  but  with  the  Father  ; 
indicating  that  filial  relation  of  believers  to  God 
as  their  Father,  whom  they  have  first  been  taught 
through  Christ  to  know  and  honor  as  such.  In  it 
is  included  the  permanency  of  this  once  establish- 
ed relation,  as  something  not  again  to  be  unsettled, 
80  long  as  the  believer  abides  in  this  fellowship 
with  Christ,  so  long  as  his  faith  continues  steadfast. 
Only  where  it  has  already  suffered  disturbance, 
must  the  direction  of  the  eye  to  Christ,  by  whom 
it  was  established,  revive  again  the  living  con- 
sciousness of  this  relation. 

There  is  thus  presupposed,  in  this  perpetual  ad- 
vocacy of  Christ,  that  which  he  has  once  for  all 
wrought  out  for  the  human  race.  But  this  too,  is 
represented  as  something  which  shall  continue 
working  in  divine  power,  until  it  has  accomplished 
its  final  aim,  the  complete  redemption  and  purifi 
cation  of  man  already  reconciled  to  God  through 


51 

Christ, — until  the  consummation  of  the  kingdom 
of  God.  It  is  clear  that  this  divine  agency  in  the 
ever-progressing  work  of  redemption,  is  necessary 
even  for  those  who  have  been  thus  reconciled  to 
God  through  Christ,  and  who  are  conscious  of  a 
filial  relation  to  Him  as  their  Father.  It  is  made 
necessary  by  the  frequent  disturbances  of  this 
relation,  through  the  after- workings  of  that  sin 
from  which  they  have  been  made  free.  Their 
christian  life  can  prosper,  only  when  in  a  continued 
living  connection  with  the  original  divine  founda- 
tion on  which  it  rests,  that  common  foundation 
of  all  which  belongs  to  the  development  of  the 
kingdom  of  God  on  earth. 

But  when  we  speak  of  the  still  operative  power 
of  the  work  of  redemption,  we  are  not  to  under- 
stand by  this,  merely  the  influence  exerted  by 
some  past  transaction  upon  the  development  of  hu- 
manity, and  of  individuals  who  yield  themselves 
to  it,  irrespective  of  the  personal  influence  of  him 
by  whom  that  work  was  wrought ;  as  though  the 
sacred  writer,  when  speaking  of  Christ  as  the  per- 
petual intercessor,  ascribed  to  him  by  a  figure  of 
speech  the  influences  belonging  to  his  once  com- 
pleted work.     So  the  still  operating  influence  of 


52 

any  great  work,  once  wrought  in  human  history  by 
some  master  spirit,  might  be  ascribed  to  his  con- 
tinued personal  agency  ;  a  lively  and  graphic  form 
of  conception  representing  such  an  one, — for  a 
time  at  least,  until  the  whole  aim  and  purpose  of 
the  work  shall  reach  its  full  completion, — as  still 
working  on  in  that  which  had  its  origin  in  him. 
Thus  it  might  be  said  of  Luther,  that  he  still 
lives  and  works  in  that  Reformation  which  bears 
the  impress  of  his  own  spirit.  We  might  indeed, 
in  such  a  sense  as  this,  speak  of  Christ  the  Holy 
as  the  intercessor  of  believers,  without  knowing 
anything  farther  of  his  personality;  and  even 
though  this  personality  had  been  a  mere  transient 
phenomenon,  as  regarded  by  a  Sabellius,  and  as  it 
is  presented  by  a  certain  school,  which,  though 
totally  oi3posed  to  Christianity,  sometimes  assumes 
its  likeness. 

But  such  a  view  is  entirely  at  variance  with  the 
Apostle's  meaning.  Before  his  believing  eye  stands 
the  Living  Cheist;  approved  by  his  victorious 
resurrection  from  the  dead,  as  the  Holy  One,  over 
whom  death  could  have  no  power ;  risen  and  as- 
cended to  an  eternal  divine  life  in  heaven,  forever 
living  with  the  Father  in  a  glorified,  divine-human 


53 

personality.  This  living  Christ  he  contemplates 
as  still  carrying  on  his  work  in  person,  and  with 
the  same  holy  love  with  which  he  labored  on  earth 
for  the  reconciliation  of  sinful  man,  still  continu- 
ing to  work  in  that  glorified  state  with  the  Father. 
In  his  divine-human  personality  he  forms  the  me- 
dium by  which  the  human  race,  redeemed  and 
reconciled  to  God  through  him,  is  brought  into 
union  with  God  as  a  Father.  This  connection  be- 
tween the  living  Christ  and  what  he  once  wrought 
on  earth,  must  therefore  never  be  lost  sight  of. 
Thus  Christ  himself,  in  those  last  discourses  trans- 
mitted to  us  by  John,  says  on  the  one  hand,  that 
he  will  pray  the  Father  in  behalf  of  his  disciples, 
and  that  in  answer  to  his  prayers  the  Father  will 
bestow  upon  them  what  they  need  (John  xiv.  16)  ; 
and  on  the  other  hand,  that  he  need  not  pray  for 
them,  since,  by  virtue  of  their  connection  -with 
him,  they  are  themselves  already  the  objects  of 
God's  paternal  love,  already  stand  in'  a  filial  rela- 
tion to  Him  (John  xvi.  26,  27). 

With  special  emphasis  it  is  here  said  that  Jesus, 
as  The  Holy,  is  the  advocate  of  the  redeemed, 
who  under  the  sense  of  still  remaining  sin  direct 
to  him  the  eye  of  faith.     Christ  being  the  Holy 


54 

One,  haviDg  in  liis  life  on  earth  given  once  for  all 
a  complete  realization  of  the  perfect  holiness  re- 
quired by  the  divine  Law  ;  this  his  holiness  stands 
forever  the  offset  for  all  that  is  still  sinful  in  those 
who  have  been  redeemed  by  him,  and  are  in  fel- 
lowship with  him.  It  is  in  this  connection  with 
him,  as  one  with  him,  that  they  are  presented  to 
the  eye  of  God.  Herein  lies  the  pledge  that  they 
also,  by  virtue  of  this  union  with  him,  shall  one 
day  be  wholly  23urified  from  sin ;  shall  be  like  him 
in  perfect  holiness,  to  whom  even  now,  turning 
away  from  sin,  they  direct  the  eye  of  faith  ;  shall 
be  made  holy  as  he  is  holy. 

What  now  is  the  practical  significance  of  this 
fcruth,  that  Christ  the  Holy  is  our  ever-abiding  ad 
vocate  with  the  Father  ?  To  this  perpetual  me- 
diation through  the  living  Christ,  to  his  ever- 
abiding  priesthood  for  those  who  are  reconciled  to 
God  through  him,  corresponds  the  ever-remaining 
need  of  mediation  in  believers,  their  constant  de- 
pendence upon  the  priesthood  of  Christ,  in  union 
with  whom  they  are  a  generation  consecrated  to 
God.  Under  every  feeling  of  sin  and  infirmity, 
in  all  their  temptations  and  conflicts,  they  may 
securely  trust  in  their  indissoluble  union  with  this 


55 

divine-liuman  Personage ;  who  himself  has  felt  all 
their  necessities,  and  is  near  to  them  in  the  inti- 
mate sympathy  of  perfect  love.  Moreover,  their 
whole  inward  and  outward  christian  life,  flowiiDg 
as  it  does  from  this  sense  of  continual  need  of 
redemption,  will  take  its  character  from  this  ever- 
continuing  mediation  of  Christ  and  their  own  con- 
scious connection  therewith. 

The  whole  christian  life,  as  ordained  for  the 
glory  of  God,  must  be  governed  hy  its  relation  to 
him ;  and  this  relation  must  everywhere  show  it- 
self to  be  the  fruit  of  Christ's  abiding  mediation. 
To  the  christian  consciousness,  this  will  be  an  ever- 
present  reality.  As  Christ  the  Holy  can  alone 
be,  in  an  absolute  sense,  the  object  of  divine  love 
and  complacency ;  so  no  other  of  the  human  race 
can  be  its  object,  except  in  connection  with  Christ 
as  the  perpetual  mediator.  Only  that  wherein 
Christ  is  found,  only  that  which  apj^ears  under  his 
glorified  image,  can  truly  promote  the  glory  of 
God.  The  glory,  beaming  from  this  heavenly  re- 
lation, will  throw  its  radiance  over  all  the  dark- 
ness that  yet  remains.  Christian  piety  and  all  its 
fruits,  must  have  their  root  in  this  relation  to 
Christ  as  mediator.     Thus  Christ,  in  that  last  dis- 


66 

course  to  his  disciples  of  wMcli  Jolin  has  given  us 
the  record,  says  that  God  Avill  bestow  upon  them 
the  Holy  Spirit  in  answer  to  his  prayer  (John 
xiv.  16)  ;  that  the  Father  will 'send  the  Spirit  in 
his  name  (John  xiv.  26) ;  both  pointing  to  this 
perpetual  mediation  through  Christ.  To  this  also 
refers  the  prayer  in  his  name,  which  he  so  ear- 
nestly presses  upon  their  hearts  in  this  discourse ; 
the  expression  "  through  Christ"  being,  in  general, 
equivalent  to  "  in  Christ."  All  this  is  thus  placed 
in  its  proper  light.  In  many  apostolic  expressions, 
the  whole  life  of  the  church,  and  of  each  individual 
Christian,  is  represented  under  the  figure  of  a 
sacrifice  well-pleasing  to  God;  a  sacrifice  which 
Christ,  the  perpetual  mediator,  the  eternal  Priest, 
offers  to  his  heavenly  Father.  From  this  connec- 
tion of  christian  truth  we  can  also  deduce  the  in- 
ference, that  since  everything  in  the  christian  life 
is  comprehended  in  this  mediation  by  Christ,  and 
through  it  receives  its  consecration  ;  so  everything 
human  is  in  like  manner  to  be  thereby  consecrated 
and  sanctified,  to  be  brought  into  connection  with 
the  life  of  Christ.  Hence  the  distinction  between 
worldly  and  spiritual,  holy  and  profane,  no  longer 


57 

exists ;  all  this  is  done  away  by  the  perpetual  me- 
diation of  Christ. 

History  teaches  us  to  estimate  aright  the  deep 
significance  of  this  christian  truth,  here  developed 
from  the  words  of  the  Apostle.  The  entire  de- 
pendence of  all  Christians  alike  upon  this  one  ad- 
vocacy, to  the  exclusion  of  every  other,  being 
based  upon  this  truth ;  we  accordingly  see  that 
whenever  it  became  obscured  in  the  christian  con- 
sciousness, that  dependence  was  again,  as  in  the 
ante-christian  period,  transferred  to  a  human 
priesthood  and  to  a  multiplicity  of  mediations, 
and  again  the  distinction  between  priests  and  laity, 
between  spiritual  and  secular,  found  admission. 
And  thus  will  it  ever  be,  when  this  reference  of 
the  religious  consciousness  in  all  believers,  to  the 
one  mediation  through  Christ,  is  cast  into  the  back- 
ground, is  obscured  or  misunderstood. 

The  Apostle  has  thus  shown,  that  at  the  basis 
of  the  ever-continuing  mediation  by  Christ,  there 
lies  the  reference  fo  what  he  once  wrought  for  the 
reconciliation  of  man  with  God,  to  that  one  all- 
sufficient  offering  of  himself.  He  accordingly  now 
directs  attention  specially  to  the  fact,  that  He  is 
"  the  reconciliation  for  our  sins," — referring  to  that 


58 

once-accomplished  and  still  abiding  and  operative 
work  of  redemption.  For  he  it  is  through  whom 
man  has  been  made  free  from  sin ;  through  whom 
that  sin  which  pressed  down  humanity,  separating 
it  from  God  and  his  fellowship,  and  intercepting 
the  communications  of  divine  love,  has  been  taken 
away,  has  become  as  if  it  were  not ;  so  that  hence- 
forth, all  mankind  should  appear  before  God  as 
freed  from  sin  by  this  self-offering  of  Christ, — as 
in  him  pure  in  the  sight  of  God.  This, — which 
according  to  the  divine  plan,  the  purposes  of  di- 
vine grace,  the  yearning  love  of  Christ  who  bore 
all  mankind  upon  his  heart,  should  embrace  all, — 
is  realized  in  those  who  open  their  hearts  to  its  re- 
ception, who  believingly  appropriate  the  redeem- 
ing grace  thus  offered.  It  is  so  realized  when  they 
first  enter  into  christian  fellowship,  renouncing  the 
former  standpoint  of  a  life  of  worldliness  and  sin ; 
it  is  this  which  marks  the  boundary  between  the 
old  and  the  new  life.  But  as  John  here  shows, 
although  this  boundary  has  been  once  fixed,  yet 
in  the  conflict  with  the  remaining  influence  of 
that  former  state,  there  is  still  need  of  the  ever- 
renewed  appropriation  of  this  reconciliation,  which 
is  Christ  himself.    When  this  reconciliation,  as  the 


59 

all-sufficient  agency  for  the  progressive  and  ulti- 
mately  comjplete  sanctification  of  tlie  redeemed, 
dnd  tlie  constant  appropriation  of  it  as  such,  have 
ceased  to  be  recognized  in  their  connection  and 
become  obscured  in  the  christian-  consciousness, — 
new  methods  of  atonement  and  purification  have 
then  been  resorted  to,  as  necessary  for  sins  com- 
mitted after  baptism. 

But  when  John  speaks  of  the  reconciliation  for 
CUE  sins,  he  feels  constrained  to  guard  against 
every  limitation  of  the  universal  reference  of  the 
work  of  redemption.  He  calls  to  mind  such  words 
of  Christ  as  those  respecting  the  one  fold  and  the 
one  shepherd,  and  his  vision  widens  to  embrace 
all  humanity ;  to  behold  in  Christ  not  alone  the 
reconciliation  for  those  who  already  believe,  but 
for  those  also  who  as  yet  know  nothing  of  Christ, 
who  as  yet  belong  to  the  world.  The  reconcilia- 
tion of  Christ  has  for  its  object  all  humanity  in  its 
estrangement  from  God  ;  all  which  belongs  to  the 
world,  as  it  stands  opposed  to  the  kingdom  of 
God.  Humanity  as  a  whole  is  to  be  embraced  in 
the  reconciliation  with  Christ,  is  to  be  thereby 
separated  from  the  world  and  incorporated  into 
the  kingdom  of  God.     The  reconciliation,  once  in- 


60 

stituted  by  Christ,  continues  its  uninterrupted 
work  until  it  shall  have  achieved  this  its  glorious 
consummation." 

The  Apostle  passes  continually  from  one  aspect 
of  this  truth  to  another.     He  exhorts  them ' 

Ch.  ii.  3]  ,  _  . 

now  to  confidence  in  Christ ;  now  warns 
them  against  discouragement  and  despair,  and 
now  against  false  confidence  and  carnal  security. 
His  admonitions  always  keep  in  view  both  direc- 
tions in  which  they  are  liable  to  go  astray.  Ac- 
cordingly he  here  .comes  back  again,  to  warn  them 
against  the  false  confidence  of  a  merely  seeming 
Christianity,  and  to  fix  attention  upon  the  charac- 
teristic marks  of  the  true.  "  And  hereby  we  do 
know  that  we  know  him,  if  Ave  keep  his  com- 
mandments." 

In  contrast  with  a  professed  "  knowing  of 
Christ"  which  is  contradicted  by  the  life,  John 
represents  this  as  the  sign  of  a  true  knowledge  of 
Christ,  viz.  that  we  obey  his  commandments. 
There  is  indeed  a  knowledge  Avhicb  belongs  only 
to  the  understanding,  and  has  nothing  to  do  with 
the  life ;  but  such,  in  reference  to  divine  things, 
could  not  be  admitted  by  John  as  real ;  he  did  not 

'*  Compare  the  statement  on  page  58.— TV. 


61 

even  allow  it  the  name,  of  knowledge.  For  as 
trutli  according  to  his  modes  of  thought  is  not  a 
mere  abstraction,  belonging  solely  to  the  under- 
standing, but  is  something  pertaining  to  the  inner 
life,  to  the  aifections  ;  so  to  him  knowledge,  in  ref- 
erence to  divine  things,  is  not  merely  a  matter  of 
speculation  and  of  the  understanding,  but  is  some- 
thing proceeding  from  the  inner  life,  and  as  such 
must  manifest  itself  in  the  outward  course  of  con- 
duct. The  sum  and  substance  of  the  knowledge 
must  be  actually  present  in  the  inner  life.  It 
presupposes  an  inward  fellowship  of  life  with  that 
which  is  known  ;  and  this  must  stamp  its  own  pe- 
culiar character  upon  the  whole  life.  The  knowl- 
edge of  Christ,  as  the  Holy  One,  can  only  exist 
where  there  is  spiritual  fellowship  with  him,  the 
Holy  One ;  where  the  soul  has  received  into  itself 
his  holy  image,  and  has  been  pervaded  by  its  in- 
fluence. And  where  this  is  the  case,  it  must  show 
itself  in  the  whole  conduct  by  the  test  here  point- 
ed out,  obedience  to  the  commands  of  Christ ;  for 
the  commands  of  Christ  are  inseparable  from  his, 
own  nature,  from  himself  As  in  all  which  pro- 
ceeds from  him  he  but  presents  himself;  so  his 
commands  are  but  single  features  f)f  the  new  life 


62 

proceeding  from  liim.  Thus  each  one,  by  subject- 
ing his  life  to  a  comparison  with  the  commands  of 
Christ,  may  ascei'tain  whether  the  knowledge  of 
Christ,  to  which  he  makes  claim,  be  truth  or  ap- 
pearance merely.  True  indeed,  John  could  not 
admit,  as  we  have  before  shown,  that  the  life  of 
any  believer  could  present  an  absolutely  perfect 
fulfilment  of  the  commands  of  Christ.  He  cannot, 
therefore,  so  understand  this  test  of  christian  self- 
knowledge  ;  otherwise  the  result  must  in  every 
case  be  unfavorable.  But  with  all  the  imperfec- 
tions which  still  encumber  the  christian  life,  there 
yet  remains  a  strongly  marked  distinction  between 
those  with  whom  obedience  to  Christ's  commands 
is  a  matter  of  earnest  purpose,  the  current  of 
whose  whole  life  sets  in  this  direction ;  and  those 
to  whom  the  desire  to  obey  him  is  in  no  sense  the 
sold  of  their  life.  Moreover,  as  different  degrees 
obtain  in  the  true  and  living  knowledge  of  Christ, 
there  will  be  likewise  corresponding  grades  of  obe- 
dience to  the  commands  of  Christ.  The  touch- 
,stone  of  all  true  religious  knowledge,  according  to 
this  view  of  John,  is  the  practice  of  it  in  the  life. 
Buib  as  his  manner  is,  he  here  merely  contrasts  op- 
posites  in  respect  to  their  essential  nature,  without 


63 

taking  into  account  any  gradations  in  tlie  outward 
manifestation.  How  entirely  opposed  is  the  stand- 
ard of  judgment  here  established  by  John,  to  a 
one-sided  speculative  orthodoxy,  a  conception  of 
truth  as  something  merely  theoretical,  an  ortho- 
doxy of  the  understanding,  not  of  the  life !  Or- 
thodoxy, in  the  sense  of  John,  is  something  which 
belongs  to  the  life.  How  different  an  aspect  would 
it  have  given  to  doctrinal  controversies,  had  this 
stand-point  of  the  Apostle  been  rightly  under- 
stood and  firmly  adhered  to  ! 

In  order  to  impress  the  truth  more  strongly  by 
exhibitino^  it  on  both  sides,  John  now,  in 

.  .  [Cb.  ii.  4. 

his  own  peculiar  manner,  expresses  in  a 
negative  form  what  he  had  first  presented  affirma- 
tively.    "  He  that  saith,  I  know  him,  and  keepeth 
not  his  commandments,  is  a  liar,  and  the  truth  is 
not  in  him. 

In  John's  view,  therefore,  there  is  an  inherent 
inconsistency  in  professing  to  know  Christ,  and  yet 
not  obeying  his  commands.  One  who  does  this  he 
regards  as  a  liar ;  and  declares,  as  the  ground  of 
the  disposition  from  which  such  conduct  proceeds, 
that  the  truth  is  not  in  him.  "We  must  here  ap- 
ply what  we  have  previously  remarked  respecting 


64 

John's  conception  of  trutli.  Plainly  he  here 
speaks  of  truth  as  something  which  has  to  do  with 
the  disposition,  the  moral  feelings.  Such  an  one 
is  represented  by  John  ae,  in  the  determining  ten- 
dency of  his  spirit,  in  his  affections,  estranged  from 
the  truth  ;  as  one  in  whom  falsehood  is  tlie  in- 
wardly ruling  principle.  He  is  wanting  in  honest 
self-examination  in  relation  to  divine  truth  ;  hence, 
he  does  not  consider  wdiat  is  requisite  in  order  to 
make  such  a  profession  in  truth,  what  is  involved 
in  the  claim  of  knowing  Christ.  Thus  arises  first, 
self-deception,  unconscious  hypocrisy  ;  and  from 
this  proceeds  the  conscious  falsehood  of  seeking  to 
appear  more  than  he  really  is. 

From  the  proposition  thus  expressed  in  affirma- 
tive and  negative  form,  John  proceeds  to 

Ch.  ii.  5.]  -r.  1  1  1 

draw  the  inference :  "  But  whoso  keepeth 
his  w(jrd,  in  him  verily  is  the  love  of  God  perfect- 
ed :  hereby  know  we  that  we  are  in  him."  TIio 
commands  of  Christ  are  here  referred  back  to  his 
word,  his  doctrine  in  general.  For  John  is  not 
here  speaking  of  single  isolated  moral  precepts, 
but  of  the  word  revealed  through  Christ,  embra- 
cing faith  and  life  in  their  Avhole  extent ;  his  com- 
mands being,  as  we  have  already  remarked,  only 


65 

single  features  in  whicli  his  life-transforming  word 
is  developed.  Of  one  who  thus  observes  this 
word  and  applies  it  in  practice,  the  Apostle  says 
that  in  him  the  love  of  God  has  reached  its  com- 
pletion ;  that  is,  love  to  God,  such  as  it  must  be 
to  correspond  to  the  idea  of  love,  is  existing  in 
him.  It  forms  the  opjDOsite  of  such  a  love  to  God 
as  cannot  be  called  genuine  love ;  a  love  to  God 
professed  in  words  alone,  giving  no  evidence  of  it- 
self in  practice,  and  contradicted  by  the  course  of 
life.  Here  also  it  is  obvious,  that  although  John 
only  presents  these  opposites  in  their  generic  form, 
yet  we  are  necessarily  led  to  the  idea  of  grada- 
tional  differences  in  the  actual  life.  Whilst  genu- 
ine love  can  manifest  itself  only  by  obedience  to 
the  Avord  of  Christ,  yet  there  being  differences  as 
to  the  degree  in  which  this  love  has  penetrated 
the  whole  life  with  its  vitalizing  influence,  and 
eradicated  whatever  is  selfish ;  there  will  be  cor- 
responding differences  as  to  the  manifestation  of 
its  power,  in  obedience  to  the  word  of  Christ,  in 
the  fulfilment  of  his  commands.  We  must  con- 
stantly bear  in  mind,  that  it  is  not  love  to  God  in 
a  merely  general  and  indeterminate  sense  w^hich  is 
here  presented,  but  love  to  God  in  the  christian 


66 

sense,  witli  all  wLicli  is  Decessarily  presnpposed  in 
it  as  such.  It  is  love  to  God  in  connection  with 
the  knowledge  of  Christ,  and  having  its  source 
therein ;  love  to  God  as  the  Father,  enkindled  by 
the  revelation  of  the  redeeming  love  of  God  in 
Christ.  John  knows  indeed  of  no  other  love  to 
God.  He  beholds  in  man  a  being  estranged  from 
God;  over  whom  impends  the  divine  wrath,  till 
succored  by  the  redeeming  love  of  God  in  the  send- 
ing and  sacrifice  of  his  Son.  It  is  through  this 
alone  that  man  becomes  capable  of  loving  God  as 
a  Father,  and  is  constrained  so  to  love  Him.  This 
love  is  now  the  new  principle  of  life  ;  is  that  which, 
if  genuine,  must  of  itself  impel  him  who  feels  it 
to  fulfil  the  word  of  Christ,  to  obey  his  commands, 
Thus  with  John,  true  knowledge  of  Christ  and 
true  love  to  God  are  in  every  respect  coincident ; 
and  the  actual  life  must  furnish  the  test  of  both. 

Hence  he  says  :  "  Hereby  we  know  that  we  are 
in  him."  Here  the  Apostle  brings  to  view  a  state 
of  being,  which  has  its  foundation  in  Christ ;  just 
as  Christ  is  by  Paul  represented,  as  himself  the 
foundation  on  which  the  whole  structure  of  the 
Christian  life  is  built,  whereon  it  rests.  Thus  each 
believer  has  his  life  in  Christ ;  its  root  is  spiritual 


67 

fellowship  witli  him.  To  be  a  christian  and  to  he 
in  Christ,  to  be  in  fellowship  with  him  and  to  live, 
are  in  the  view  of  John  one  and  the  same  thinsr. 
Christ  himself  is  here  the  vital  principle  from 
which  all  proceeds.  Out  of  him  unfolds  itself  the 
entire  new  life.  To  know  Christ,  to  love  God  a:^ 
self-revealed  in  Christ,  to  be  in  Christ,  these  are  all 
indissolubly  connected,  are  one  and  the  same  ;  one 
cannot  be  conceived  separate  from  another.  And 
thus  also,  as  we  see,  obedience  to  the  word,  to  the 
commands  of  Christ,  is  the  test  whether  one  is 
truly  in  a  state  of  fellowship  with  Christ. 

In  the  succeeding  words,  John  now  more  partic- 
ularly defines  what  is  implied  in  obedience 

[Cb.  ii.  6. 

to  the  commands  of  Christ :  "  He  that  saith 
he  abideth  in  him,  ought  himself  also  so  to  walk, 
even  as  he  walked."  To  abide  in  Christ,  desig- 
nates some  thin  Of  more  than  to  be  in  Christ.  It 
means,  not  merely  to  have  entered  through  faith 
into  fellowship  with  Christ,  but  also  to  perse- 
vere therein  steadfastly  ;  to  hold  fast,  with  a  true 
heart,  what  has  been  once  received.  It  is  implied, 
that  there  are  such  as  have  already  known  Chriat 
for  a  long  time,  in  whom  therefore  fellowship  with 
Christ  must  have  received  a  fuller  development 


68 

as  the  animating  principle  of  life  And  how  then 
is  this  to  make  itself  known  ?  This  abiding  spir- 
itual fellowship  can  only  manifest  itself,  through 
a  life  conformed  to  him  with  whom  the  believer 
has  thus  entered  into  fellowship.  We  find  here 
the  confirmation  of  our  previous  remark,  that  not 
a  multiplicity  of  single  moral  precepts  by  which 
one  is  to  regulate  his  outward  life  is  here  intended  ; 
but  the  single  commands  are  to  be  understood  only 
as  the  development  and  application  of  an  inward 
law,  which  is  to  embrace  and  transform  the  whole 
life.  There  is  not  meant  here  a  law  of  the  letter, 
like  that  of  the  Old  Testament,  which  made  its 
claims  on  men  in  single  commands :  "  Do  this  and 
thou  shalt  live  !"  But  here  all  refers  itself  to  that 
new  view  of  the  life  of  holiness,  whose  model  is 
presented  to  the  believer  in  Christ  himself.  All 
single  moral  demands  which  he  makes  on  men  (as 
for  instance,  those  ground-traits  of  Christianity 
developed  in  the  sermon  on  the  Mount,  that 
Magna  Charta  of  his  kingdom)  are  nothing  else 
than  single  features  in  which  the  life  of  holiness, 
whose  perfect  form  he  first  revealed  and  actual- 
ized, is  presented  in  contrast  with  what  had  been 
the  standard  of  the  world.     Christ  himself  is  in  his 


commands ;  and  tliey,  on  the  other  hand,  are  but 
siude  items  of  his  self-revehition.     He  utters  only 
that,  testifies  only  of  that,  which  he  has  himself 
actualized  in  his  life.     And  thus  also  here,  the 
x\postle  speaks  not  of  commands  whose  constrain- 
ing foi-ce  is  from  without,  but  of  the  spontaneous 
result  of  the  process  by  which  the  new  life  in 
Christ  is  developed.     There  is  implied  an  inward 
germinating  power,  which  cannot  but  make  itself 
known  by  such  outward  signs.     If  a  man  truly 
abide  in  Christ,  then  must  Christ  with  w^hom  he 
stands  in  fellowship,  who  dwells  within  him,  be 
als®  reflected  in  his  life  which  through  Christ  is 
formed  anew.      From   the   contemplation  of  the 
life  of  Christ,  there  must  form  itself  a  new  course 
of  life  in  conformity  with  that  holy  pattern,  an 
unconstrained  fulfilment  of  the  commands  of  Christ. 
The  life  of  each  believer  should  be  only  a  peculiar 
aspect  of  the  image  of  Christ,  as  the  great  arche- 
type of  renewed  and  glorified  humanity.     Christ 
himself,  assuming  as  his  own  all  that  is  human, 
will  glorify  it  in  believers  who  live  in  fellowship 
with  Him ;  the  One  Christ  presenting  himself  in 
manifold  forms  of  manifestation.     And  thus,  on 
the  conformity  of  the  life  to  the  model  of  Christ, 


70 

must  depend  the  proof  whether  the  claim  of  being 
in  fellowshii-)  with  Christ  is  founded  in  truth. 
As  we  have  before  seen,  it  is  not  John's  object 
to  propound  anything  new  to  the  churches, 

Ch.  ii.  7.] 

but  to  awaken  them  to  a  living  sense  of 
that  which  had  always  constituted  the  burden  of 
his  instructions ;  to  guide  them  in  the  right  appli- 
cation of  that  whicb  they  already  knew.  What 
he  had  always  held  up  before  them  as  the  one 
command  of  the  Lord,  the  sum  and  substance  of 
all  other  commands ;  as  the  foundation  whereon 
rested  the  essential  nature  of  practical  Christianity ; 
this  is  what  he  would  liave  them  lay  to  heart  anew, 
and  this  he  introduces  with  a  new  ])er.sonal  ad- 
dress: "  Brethren,  I  write  no  new  commandment 
unto  you,  but  an  old  commandment  which  ye 
had  from  the  beginning.  The  old  commandment 
is  the  word  which  ye  have  heard  from  the  begin- 
ning." 

We  here  find  confirmation  of  what  we  have  be- 
fore remarked,  viz.  that  althougli  John  speaks  of 
commandments  in  the  plural,  yet  he  does  not  mean 
a  number  of  single  commands ;  for  he  here  refers 
them  all  back  to  that  One,  which  is  itself  no  new 
commandment,  but  has  been  known  to  them  from 


71 

the  first  proclamation  of  the  Gospel,  and  is  here 
designated  as  the  Word  which  they  have  heard 
iVom  the  beginning.  We  are  not  to  understand 
by  it  merely  the  woi-d  as  preached  by  John  lii in- 
self  in  these  churches,  but  also  as  made  known  to 
them  by  the  Aj)ostle  Paul.  It  was  still,  although 
in  different  forms,  the  same  word  which  had  ever 
been  preached  to  them  and  received  by  them  ;  and 
this  preached  word  had  for  its  central  point  that 
one  command. 

We  shall  now  be  able,  of  ourselves,  to  perceive 
what  John  means  by  this  one  command.  It  is  the 
command  which  Christ  bequeathed  as  his  last  leg- 
acy to  his  disciples, — the  token  by  which  they 
should  be  recognized  as  such, — after  he  had  insti- 
tuted the  holy  supper  as  the  pledge  and  the  sym- 
bolic seal  of  his  own  ever-continued  fellowship 
with  them,  and  of  their  consequent  mutual  fellow- 
ship with  one  another  ;  the  command  namely,  that 
they  should  exercise  towards  eacb  other  the  same 
self-sacrificing  love  which  Christ  had  manifested 
for  them,  and  would  continue  to  manifest  even 
unto  the  end.  (John  xiii.  34,  35).  He  himself 
(John  XV.  10,  ff'.),  sums  up  all  single  commands 
in  this  "  new  commandment,"  as  he  there  terms  it, 


T2 

in  wliat  sense  we  shall  presently  consider.  From 
all  this  it  is  evident,  that  the  Apostle  cannot  here 
be  speaking  of  single  isolated  commands,  in  the 
sense  in  which  they  are  so  regarded  from  the  stand- 
point of  the  Law.  .  For  this  Love  is  not  a  thing 
to  be  enjoined  by  an  outward  law, — is  not  a  thing 
to  be  i^hiced  as  a  single  command  side  by  side  with 
others.  Love  is  something  which  can  be  produced 
only  from  within,  which  manifests  its  presence  in 
the  living  spirit  as  an  inward  necessity,  which 
contains  in  itself  the  impulse  to  all  good  and  makes 
all  other  commands  superfluous.  The  aim  of  all 
others  is  embraced  within  the  scope  of  this,  and 
in  it  are  they  all  fulfilled ;  in  the  words  of  Paul, 
"JLove  is  the  fulfilling  of  the  Law."  It  springs 
unconstrained,  from  the  inward  experience  of  re- 
demption, from  fellowship  with  Christ,  and  from 
the  new  moral  bent  of  life  grounded  therein. 
Yet,  after  having  designated  it  thus  as  the  old 
command,  he  adds :  "  As^ain,  a  new  com- 

Ch.ii.  8]  .  ° 

mandment  I  write  unto  you."  Thus,  what 
he  had  just  enjoined  upon  them  as  old,  may  now 
it  seems  to  him,  in  another  aspect,  be  presented  as 
now.  But  in  what  sense  both  old  and  new  ?  This 
might  be  explained  from  the  relation  of  the  new 


T3 

dispensation  to  the  old,  in  wMcli  view  Christ  calls 
this  the  new  command,  the  characteristic  feature 
of  the  new  dispensation,  whose  sealing  was  set 
forth  in  the  Last  Suppei*.  It  was  the  old  com- 
mand as  standing  already  at  the  head  of  the  ten 
commandments ;  it  was  the  new  command  as  ac- 
tualized and  made  new  by  Christ's  self-sacrificing 
love  for  his  brethren,  especially  by  the  sacrifice  of 
his  life  for  them.  Thus  illustrated, — love  after 
this  pattern  of  Christ,  ready  to  offer  up  all  for  a 
brother's  sake, — as  such  it  is  the  new  command. 

True,  nothing  was  enjoined  by  it  which  might 
not  have  been  found  in  the  old  command  :  "  Love 
thy  neighbor  as  thyself."  For  the  expression  "  as 
thyself,"  properly  understood,  can  have  reference 
only  to  the  true  Self,  which,  from  the  nature  of  the 
case,  cannot  be  made  an  offering  for  others ;  which 
must,  on  the  contrary,  be  the  gainer  by  all  the 
deeds  of  self-sacrificing  love, — only  in  them,  in- 
deed, can  find  its  own  completion.  And  hence,  in 
this  love  of  our  neighbor  as  ourself,  might  be  in- 
cluded that  unreserved,  all-sacrificing  love  for  oth- 
ers. But  it  lay  therein  only  as  a  migiit-be,  not 
yet  expressed,  not  developed,  not  known  as  a  liv- 
hig  principle      Nor  was  this  effected  till  Christ, 


14: 

by  the  devotion  of  his  whole  life  crowned  by  that 
final  act  of  his  death,  gave  the  example  of  such  a 
love,  and  in  antici2-)ation  of  that  closing  act  gave  ■ 
it  expression  in  words.  In  such  a  sense  it  might 
be  called  new  ;  new  as  having  not  before  been  so 
understood,  and  new  in  relation  to  the  Old  Testa- 
ment. It  might  be  called  new,  moreover,  as  being 
now  freed  from  all  which  checked  its  develop- 
ment under  the  old  dispensation,  as  being  made 
henceforth  the  sum  and  centre  of  all.  As  belong- 
ing in  the  germ  to  the  Old  Testament,  it  could  be 
designated  as  the  old  command  ;  as  developed  into 
new  glory  by  Christ,  it  might  be  called  the  new. 
But  though  such  a  distinction  is  in  itself  admis- 
sible, yet  had  it  been  what  John  intended  to  ex- 
press here,  it  would  certainly  have  been  more 
clearly  and  definitely  stated.  There  is,  on  the  con- 
trary, in  the  whole  connection,  no  hint  of  such  a 
distinction  based  upon  the  relation  of  the  New  to 
the  Old  Testament.  It  could  only  be  so  under- 
stood, if  in  what  precedes,  the  designation,  'old' 
were  applied  to  what  believers  had  already  learn- 
ed from  the  Old  Testament.  But,  as  we  have  seen, 
it  is  here  applied  to  what  is  old  in  respect  to  them- 
selves and  their  present  christian  stand-point ;  old' 


T5 

to  them  as  being  the  same  whicli  tliey  have  heard 
from  the  first  announcement  of  the  Gospel.  When, 
therefore,  this  same  command  is  urged  upon  them 
as  new,  we  may  infer  that  it  is  to  be  taken  in  the 
same  reference,  viz.  to  the  state  of  the  church  it- 
sBlf  In  respect  to  the  whole  period  since  it  was 
first  made  known  to  them,  it  might  be  called  old  ; 
in  another  respect,  that  of  the  change  supposed 
since  then  to  have  taken  place  in  them,  in  respect 
to  their  having  themselves  become  new,  it  might 
be  called  the  new  command.  In  respect  to  the  re- 
ligious development  of  the  church  itself,  it  might 
in  one  aspect  be  called  old,  in  the  other,  new. 
This  conclusion  is  confirmed  by  what  follows,  in 
which  the  Apostle's  view  is  brought  out  still  more 
clearly. 

The  succeeding  words  refer  to  this  fact,  that  the 
command  can  now  be  presented  as  something  new : 
"  Which  thing  is  true  in  him  and  in  you."  He 
means  to  say :  It  is  true  in  reference  both  to  Christ 
and  the  church, — that  is,  in  reference  to  their  mu- 
tual relation  to  each  other, — that  the  old  com- 
mand has  become  to  them  a  new  one,  something 
new  in  their  christian  experience.  In  what  re- 
spect this  holds  true,  is  explained  by  the  words 


76 

which  follow :  "  For  the  darkness  is  past  and  the 
true  light  nowshineth."  John  here  makes  a  com- 
parison between  a  present,  new  condition  of  the 
church  and  a  former  one ;  and  from  this  we  see  how 
it  is  that  the  old  command,  the  expression  of  Avhat 
was  peculiar  in  the  nature  of  Christianity,  should 
now  be  presented  to  them  as  new.  It  is  a  com- 
parison of  their  present  counition, — as  they  had 
already  long  been  christians,  and  Christianity  there- 
fore should  have  become  so  ninch  the  more  their 
life-element, — with  that  of  their  spiritual  child- 
hood when  Christianity  was  as  yet  a  new  thing  to 
them.  Life,  apart  from  Chi-istianity,  as  it  belongs 
to  a  world  estranged  from  God,  is  in  it-<elf  and 
with  all  its  results  regarded  by  the  Apostle  as  the 
kingdom  of  darkness ;  its  opposite  being  the  di- 
vine light  of  Christianity,  and  all  that  flows  from 
it.  AVhen  he  says  "  the  true  light,"  he  means  by 
"true,"  according  to  the  import  of  the  Greek 
term',  what  in  the  highest  and  fullest  sense  corres- 
ponds to  the  idea.  With  him  "  the  true,"  when 
used  with  a  word  applicable  both  to  what  is  divine 
and  to  objects  of  sense,  means  only  and  always  the 
divine.  It  is  implied,  that  the  word  is  applicable 
to  the  physical  only  in  a  subordinate  sense ;  and  at 


77 

that  lower  stage  of  being  is  but  an  imperfect  sym- 
bol, a  mere  image  of  tliat,  wliicb,  in  the  highest 
and  fullest  sense  with  reference  to  the  spirit  of 
man,  can  be  predicated  only  of  the  divine.  Thus, 
for  example,  the  true  food  for  man  is  only  that 
which  nourishes  the  spirit  to  divine  life,  bearing 
the  same  relation  to  the  true  life  of  the  spirit,  as 
food  in  the  lower  realm  of  sense  to  the  life  of  the 
body.  Thus  too,  John  contemplates  Christ  as  him- 
self the  true  light,  holding  the  same  relation  to 
the  spiritual  as  the  sun  to  the  natural  life.  What 
he  here  says  then  is  this :  With  those  who  have 
been  so  long  attached  to  Christianity,  the  dark- 
ness proceeding  from  their  former  heathen  state 
is  passing  away,  and  the  true  light  is  now  break- 
ing. "  Now,"  he  says, — meaning  their  present  in 
contrast  with  their  former  state  of  heathenism,  or 
while  still  affected  by  its  remaining  influence.  The 
light  derived  from  Christ,  the  true  light,  was  al- 
ready banishing  the  former  darkness,  they  were 
becoming  constantly  more  and  more  enlightened. 
So  Paul  says  to  his  readers  (Hom.  xiii.  11  ff.)  that 
now  their  salvation  is  nearei-  than  when  they  be- 
lieved, that  the  end  of  the  night  a])!)roaches,  the 
day  of  the  Lord  draws  near.      It  is  tlicrefore  true, 


78  . 

— both  with  i-eference  to  Christ,  the  true  light 
which  has  dawned  upon  their  souls,  and  with  ref- 
erence to  believers  who  have  received  this  light 
and  been  illuminated  thereby,  that  this  funda- 
mental law  of  Christianity  now  verifies  its  charac- 
ter as  the  new  command.  To  those  who  live  in 
the  light  of  Christ,  who  have  become  at  home  in 
the  new  world  of  Christianity,  the  old  command 
must  now,  in  contrast  with  the  former  state  of 
darkness,  present  itself  in  new  glory  as  the  new 
command.  In  new  power  must  it  be  revealed  to 
their  hearts,  that  beotheely  love  constitutes  the 
essence  of  the  christian  life,  is  the  essential  ma)-k 
of  fellowship  with  Christ. 

That  the  injunction  to  christian  brotherly  love 
is  here  meant  by  the  new  command,  is  im- 

Ch.  iL  9.]        .        . 

plied  in  the  succeeding  words,  which  indi- 
cate the  close  connection  between  that  assumed 
state  of  the  church,  that  living  in  the  light,  and 
the  exercise  of  brotherly  love  ;  as,  in  like  manner, 
by  darkness  is  designated  the  opposite  of  this  love, 
viz.  selfishness,  which  excludes  love,  which  begets 
hate, — the  characteristic  mark  of  the  life  of  dark- 
ness. "  He  that  saith  he  is  in  the  light,  and 
hateth  his  brother,  is  in  darkness  even  until  now." 


79 

With  John,  as  will  readily  be  perceived,  the 
expressions  "  being  in  the  light,"  being  in  fellow- 
ship with  Christ  as  the  true  light,  being  enlight- 
ened by  him,  and  being  a  christian,  all  mean  the 
same  thing ;  just  as,  on  the  other  hand,  "  being  in 
darkness,"  being  shut  out  from  Christ  the  true 
light,  and  belonging  to  the  ungodly  world,  all 
have  the  same  meaning.  He  who  claims  to  be  a 
christian,  and  hates  him  whom  he  should  love  as  a 
brother,  proves  thereby,  that  however  long  he  may 
have  professed  Christianity,  he  is  in  truth  as  far 
from  it  as  ever.  That  spirit  of  hatred  towards 
his  brother  is  a  sure  token,  that  he  has  never  yet 
become  a  partaker  of  the  divine  light ;  that  the 
darkness  of  the  world,  the  same  spirit  which  gov- 
erns the  God-estranged  world,  still  reigns  in  him. 
Not  inwardly,  but  only  outwardly,  seemingly,  has 
he  renounced  the  world.  The  light  of  Christ  has 
not  yet  risen  in  his  soul ;  for  this  cannot  co-exist 
with  such  a  temper  of  mind. 

Now  it  is  worthy  of  note,  that  John  makes  but 
this  one  distinction :  He  that  hateth  his  brother, 
and  he  that  loveth  his  brother.  He  recognizes  no 
intermediate  state,  which,  while  it  is  indeed  far 
from  self-sacrificing  love,  is  far  also  from  hatred  of 


80 

the  brethren.  This  is  John's  peculiar  manner ;  viz. 
without  regarding  intermediate  stejDS  and  grada- 
tions in  opposite  moral  states,  to  seize  upon  the  radi- 
cal point  of  difference,  and  thus  contrast  them  in 
their  essential  nature  and  principle.  And  with  full 
reason.  For  either  love,  to  the  exclusion  of  the 
selfish  element,  is  the  animating  principle  ;  or  self 
is  made  the  centre  of  all,  and  selfishness  governs. 
Now  in  this  selfishness,  the  opposite  of  brotherly 
love,  inhei'es  the  tendency  which,  when  consistently 
carried  out,  allows  place  to  nothing  that  interferes 
with  self-interest,  and  regai'ds  every  one  who  comes 
in  conflict  therewith  as  an  enemy,  to  be  removed 
out  of  the  way.  Accordingly,  in  these  opposite 
dispositions,  viewed  strictly  with  reference  to  their 
radical  elements,  we  find  only  Love  to  the  brethren, 
or  Hatred  of  -the  brethren ;  love,  which  is  ready 
for  every  sacrifice,  or  selfishness,  which  may  also 
pass  into  hate.  So  Christ  recognizes  but  two  dis- 
tinctions,— serving  God,  and  serving  the  world. 
Hence  John  says  on  the  other  hand :  "  He  that 

loveth  his  brother  abideth  in  the  light, 
Ch.ii.  10.]  .  .  .        . 

and  there  is  no  occasion  of  stumbling  m 

him."     This  characteristic  token  of  brotherly  love, 

must  show  whether  we  are  abiding  in  the  light 


81 

He  who  manifests  in  his  life  such  a  self-sacrificing 
love,  reveals  therein  the  power  of  divine  light, 
whereby  he  has  been  made  free  from  the  former 
darkness  of  selfishness.  As  the  life  of  Christ  was 
the  essence  of  all-sacrificing  love,  so  fellowship 
with  him  is  reflected  in  a  similar  life  of  love.  We 
learn  from  the  testimony  of  the  Church  Fathers, 
the  Apologists  of  Christianity  in  the  first  centuries, 
that  even  the  heathen  saw  in  this  fellowship  of 
brotherly  love  theunmistakeable  characteristic  of 
the  new  christian  life.  "  They  love  one  another, 
even  before  they  know  each  other!"  were  the 
words  applied  to  christians,  distinguishing  them 
from  the  heathen  world  as  governed  by  hate.  Of 
one  in  whom  brotherly  love  thus  prevails  John 
says,  that  with  him  there  is  no  stumbling.  This 
might  be  understood  as  follows, — a  view  which 
seems  clearly  to  be  at  the  basis  of  Luther's  trans- 
lation,— "  he  who  is  so  heavenly-minded,  gives  to 
another  no  cause  of  stumbling,  no  ofi:ence."  And 
this  is  without  doubt  true,  that  the  love  which  has 
only  the  best  good  of  others  in  view,  and  is  willing 
to  sacrifice  all  rather  than  subject  another  to  what 
is  hurtful,  v\'ill  avoid  everything  which  might  in 
any  way  offend  his  moral  feeling  as  a  religious  be- 


82 

ing,  and  thus  become  a  means  of  spiritual  injury 
to  liim.  "We  need  only  call  to  mind  what  Paul,  in 
the  first  Epistle  to  the  Corinthians,  says  of  chris- 
tian love  towards  the  weak.  But  although  the 
words,  taken  by  themselves,  might  be  so  under- 
stood, yet  the  consistency  of  the  figurative  repre- 
sentation, and  the  contrast  with  the  following 
verse,  requires  another  sense.  The  image  is  that 
of  a  man  walking  in  the  light,  who  is  therefore 
safe  from  all  danger  of  stumbling  or  falling.  Ac- 
cordingly it  means:  There  is  with  him  no  stum- 
bling, he  himself  stumbles  not.  As  one  who 
walks  in  the  light  of  day  sees  his  path  clearly,  and 
avoids  everything  over  which  he  might  stumble 
and  fall ;  so  does  he  who  walks  in  the  light  of  the 
spirit,  pass  with  secure  step  along  life's  way.  In 
this  divine  light  he  beholds  the  goal  of  his  course, 
and  the  path  which  leads  thither,  clearly  before 
him ;  and  he  is  able  to  avoid  everything  which 
might  be  prejudicial  to  the  interests  of  his  chris- 
tian life,  to  his  salvation.  Love,  in  John's  view,  is 
that  which  gives  this  security  to  the  believer; 
Love  is  the  soul  of  this  walking  in  the  light. 
Love  bestows  that  true  clearness  of  spiritual  vis- 
ion, by  which  the  believer  pursues  his  way  se- 


83 

curely  to  the  goal ;  the  circumspection,  the  true 
wisdom,  necessary  to  shun  every  obstacle  and  dan- 
ger in  the  accomplishment  of  the  life-task  which 
God  has  set  before  him.  Love  bestows  that  ready 
instinct,  which  knows  at  every  instant  how  to  turn 
circumstances  to  their  right  use,  to  distinguish  in 
all  cases  between  right  and  wrong.  Love  imparts 
true  repose,  wards  off  the  influence  of  passion 
which  w^ould  disturb  the  calm  judgment  of  the 
spirit,  keeps  the  soul  steadily  towards  its  one  ob- 
ject, and  secures  it  from  all  distracting  influences. 
Thus,  in  every  respect,  is  verified  the  Apostle's  as- 
sertion, that  he  who  loves  his  brother  cannot  stum- 
ble. 

From  this  follows  the  opposite  conclusion,  in 
reference  to  those  in  whom  not  love  but 

[Cb.  ii.  11. 

hate  is  the  governing  principle.     Of  such 
John  says :  "  But  he  that  hateth  his  brother  is  in 
darkness,  and  walketh  in  darkness,  and  knoweth 
not  whither  he  goeth,  because  that  darkness  hath 
blinded  his  eyes." 

John  here  makes  a  distinction,  between  being 
in  darkness  and  walking  in  darkness.  The  one 
respects  the  cause,  the  other  the  effect ;  the  one 
the  disposition,  the  other  the  course  of  life  result- 


84 

ing  from  it.  He  who  is  wanting  in  the  animating 
principle  of  brotherly  love,  and  in  whom  hatred 
is  the  ruling  power,  being  in  a  state  of  spiritual 
darkness  can  therefore  only  wjilk  in  darkness  ;  as 
he  to  whom  the  illuminating  light  of  the  sun  is 
wanting,  or  who  from  disease  of  the  eyes  cannot 
perceive  it,  wanders  about  in  darkness,  unable  to 
distinguish  the  goal  which  he  is  seekhig  or  the 
path  which  conducts  to  it.  Just  so  it  is  with  him 
who  is  under  the  dominion  of  selfishness,  and  of 
hatred.  He  cannot  perceive  the  heavenly  goal 
towards  which  the  chiistian  life  is  tending,  nor  the 
way  thither.  In  respect  to  these  he  is  as  one  who 
is  blind.  He  can  form  no  definite  plan  of  life. 
Destitute  of  that  clearness  and  collectedness  of 
spirit,  necessary  in  order  to  direct  his  course  with 
steady  purpose  towards  a  well-ascertained  end,  he 
is  every  moment  losing  his  way ;  his  selfish  im- 
pulses hurry  him  hither  and  thither;  his  whole 
course  is  an  aimless,  confused,  inconstant  eiibrt  he 
knows  not  why  or  whither. 

Love  to  christian  brethren  and  its  opposite  is 
primarily  intended  here,  as  it  is  by  Christ  also  in 
his  last  discourses.  But  while  love  is  here  con- 
ceived of  at  its  highest  point,  and  in  its  most  im- 


85 

mediate  sphere  where  its  full  power  and  glory  can 
best  unfold;  yet  this  by  no  means  excludes  the 
universal  love  of  man,  which  from  the  very  na- 
ture of  the  case  is  included  in  christian  love.  It 
need  not  be  specially  mentioned  ;  since  in  chris- 
tian Brotherly  love  itself  is  imparted  the  yearning 
desire  to  draw  all  men  within  this  fraternal  sphere, 
to  convert  them  all  into  brethren.  For  to  this 
they  are  destined  by  virtue  of  their  common  ori- 
gin, of  the  common  image  of  God  in  all,  and  of 
the  redemption  provided  for  all ;  and  Christ  him- 
self, he  who  gave  his  life  for  his  enemies  that  he 
might  make  them  brethren  and  children  of  God, 
is  in  this  self-sacrificing  love  their  model.  It  is  the 
nature  of  love,  in  the  christian  sense,  to  efface  all 
limitations  and  distinctions. 

As  exhortation  and  promise  always  go  hand  in 
hand  in  this  epistle,  John  now,  after  havin 
shown  what  belongs  to  th$  nature  of  the 
Christian  life,  addresses  them  again  as  their  spir- 
itual Father,  in  order  to  cheer  their  hearts  under 
the  sense  of  unlikeness  to  this  life,  under  the  sense 
of  sin.  He  calls  to  them  all  as  his  children :  "  I 
write  unto  you  little  children,  because  [that]  your 
sins  are  forgiven  you  for  his  name's  sake.''     He 


°    [Ch.ii.l2. 


86 

comforts  them  with  the  assm-ance  of  sins  forgiven 
through  the  mediation  of  Christ.  For  the  name  of 
Christ  are  their  sins  forgiven  ;  that  is,  for  the  sake 
of  what  Christ  is  as  the  Son  of  God  and  the  Son 
of  Man,  the  divine-human  Redeemer, — it  being  as 
such  that  they  invoke  Him  as  their  Mediator. 
There  is  reference  here  to  what  he  had  before  said 
of  the  reconciliation  effected  by  Christ. 

He  now  proceeds  to  remind  them  of  what  be- 
lonG^s  to  their  hi^h  estate  as  Christians. 

Ch.ii.13.]  °  ° 

What  he  would  say  applies  indeed  to  the 
whole  church  collectively.  But  turning  with  af- 
fectionate familiarity  to  tlie  various  ages  in  the 
church,  he  addresses  to  each  exactly  what  is  most 
appropriate  to  it.  Thus  the  fjithei-s,  the  young 
men,  and  the  children,  are  each  particularly  ad- 
dressed in  the  words  :  "  I  write  unto  you,  fathers, 
because  ye  have  known  him  that  is  from  the  be- 
ginning. I  write  unto  you,  young  men,  because 
ye  have  overcome  the  wicked  one.  I  write  unto 
you,  little  children,  because  ye  have  known  the 
Father." 

The  Gospel  announcement,  beginning  with  the 
appearance  of  Christ  in  time,  proceeded  on  to  the 
knowledge  of  the  depths  of  his  divine  nature; 


87 

rising  above  the  temporal  manifestation  to  him 
who  was  from  the  beginning,  to  the  eternal,  divine 
Word  who  had  appeared  in  the  Son  of  Man. 
This  knowledge  presupposes  a  higher  stage  of 
christian  development,  a  longer  intimacy  with 
Christianity,  and  this  therefore  is  especially  as- 
cribed to  the  fathers  in  the  church.  But  we  must 
not  forget,  moreover,  in  what  sense  John  uses 
knowledge.  He  means  by  it,  as  we  have  seen,  no 
mere  theoretical  knowledge  proceeding  from  the 
understanding,  but  a  knowledge  which  has  its 
origin  in  the  life,  which  presupposes  a  fellowship 
of  life  with  the  object  of  knowledge,  and  which 
again  re-acts  upon  the  life.  It  is  that  higher  and 
deeper  knowledge  of  Christ,  as  He  who  was  from 
the  beginning,  proceeding  from  a  more  intimate 
living  union  with  the  person  of  Christ.  This  is 
something'  more  than  the  statement  of  a  certain 
dogmatic  formula  respecting  the  person  of  Christ. 
Turning  now  to  the  young  men  of  the  church, 
John  applies  to  them  what  is  especially  adapted 
to  their  age.  Youth  is  formed  for  conflict ;  the 
bold  champions  are  from  its  ranks.  In  childhood, 
the  elements  of  inward  conflict  still  lie  hidden  and 
undeveloped.     It  knows  not,  at  that  age  of  un- 


88 

conscious  innocence,  what  germs  of  evil  it  carries 
in  its  bosom,  slumbering  yet  in  tlie  depths  of  its 
undeveloped  being,  and  the  peace  of  a  childish 
faith  still  rules  in  the  heart.  But  in  the  transition 
from  childhood  to  youth,  these  hidden  contra- 
rieties burst  forth.  Desires  and  passions  awake 
in  their  might,  and  strive  against  the  higher  law 
of  the  spirit.  The  natural  reason,  now  becoming 
conscious  of  itself,  asserts  its  claims,  and  calls  in 
question  what  at  first  had  been  received  with 
simple,  childlike  faith.  On  every  hand  breaks 
forth  the  hitherto  unconscious  and  concealed  dis- 
cord in  the  twofold  lav\^  of  man's  nature.  Here 
now  is  need  of  conflict,  in  order  that  the  divine 
seed,  implanted  during  a  childhood  developed 
under  the  influence  of  Christianity,  (for  John 
here  supposes  a  church  long  established  in  chris- 
tian truth)  may  be  preserved  uncorrupt,  may  be 
individually  appropriated,  and  matured  to  fruit. 
But  the  christian  youth  must  maintain  the  con- 
flict ;  that  through  the  conflict  he  may  regain  as 
a  conscious  personal  possession  that  peace,  which, 
in  the  period  of  early  childhood,  was  imbibed  un- 
consciously from  the  influence  of  Christianity,  in 
whose  heavenly  elements  of  life  it  had  unfolded. 


89 

Youth,  called  in  the  freshness  of  its  power  to  con- 
flict, must  not  shun  the  strife.  In  that  divine  seed 
implanted  in  a  christian  childhood,  youth  has  that 
which  renders  victory  in  all  those  conflicts  certain, 
provided  only  it  is  faithfully  applied.  Hence 
John  does  not  say :  Ye  will  overcome  the  evil 
one,  that  power  in  the  evil  one,  which  in  all  those 
respects  arrays  itself  in  opposition  to  the  divine ; 
but  he  says  :  Ye  have  overcome.  He  has  in  view 
such  as,  from  childhood  up,  have  been  developed 
in  fellowship  with  the  Redeemer ;  and  as  He  has 
triumphed  once  for  all  over  the  power  of  evil,  his 
victory  has  thus  become  their  own.  Not  with 
their  own  weak  powers,  not  in  reliance  upon  their 
own  strength,  do  they  maintain  the  warfare. 
Through  faith  in  the  Redeemer,  who  has  over- 
come the  power  of  evil,  have  they  already  con- 
quered. And,  in  faith  towards  him  their  Re- 
deemer, in  fellowship  with  him,  to  appropriate 
through  his  strength  his  victory  to  themselves, — 
this  is  to  maintain  the  conflict.  Christ,  the  victor 
over  the  power  of  Satan  and  of  the  w^orld,  strives 
and  conquers  in  them  ;  they  strive  and  conquer  as 
his  instruments.  The  christian  life,  thousrh  in  its  na- 
ture  always  one  and  the  same,  yet  develops  itself 


90 

in  successive  stages,  each  having  its  peculiar  stand- 
point. John  accordingly  contemplates  youth  as 
especially  the  season  of  ponflict.  The  entire  chris- 
tian life  is,  indeed,  a  copy  of  Christ's  own  unremit- 
ted and  ever-deepening  conflict  till  it  closed  in  that 
last  cry :  "  It  is  finished."  It  must  therefore  be  an 
ever-renewed  conflict,  till  its  last  death-struggle 
ends  in  eternal  j^eace.  Still  he  regarded  youth  as 
especially  the  season  of  conflict ;  a  conflict,  how- 
ever, which  to  the  christian  is  immediately  trans- 
formed to  victory. 

Finally,  he  turns  to  the  age  of  childhood.  The 
relationship  of  parent  and  child  is  the  one  most 
familiar  to  children ;  and  filial  love,  therefore, 
furnishes  the  most  easy  and  natural  point  of  at- 
tachment for  love  to  the  eternal  Father  in  Heaven. 
Accordingly,  to  the  children  of  christian  families, 
who  from  the  first  had  learned  in  faith  toward  the 
Kedeemer  to  know  God  as  their  Father ;  who  had 
been  nurtured  into  the  filial  relation  to  him  as 
Father ;  to  such  he  says,  that  they  have  known 
the  Father.  The  term  know,  we  remark  again, 
must  of  course  be  understood  here  in  the  sense 
peculiar  to  John. 

As  we  naturally  repeat  what  we  earnestly  de- 


91 

sii*e  to  impress   upon  others,  John  now  reiterates 
what  he  has  iust  said,  with  some  additions 

.  ,  .  [Oh.  ii.M 

servinsf  to  illustrate  and  enforce  it,  and 
to  prepare  the  way  for  the  exhortation  which  is 
to  follow.  He  had  already  said, — I  write  unto 
you ;  and  he  now  repeats,  emphatically,  what  he 
had  just  written.  "  I  have  written  unto  you,"  he 
adds,  as  much  as  to  say:  There  let  it  stand  !  That 
wMcli  I  write  unto  you,  is  now  written.  It  is 
final.  Nothing  other  have  I  to  say  to  you  ;  this 
you  must  receive,  as  said  to  you  once  for  all.  "  I 
have  written  unto  you,  fathers,  because  ye  have 
known  him  that  is  from  the  beginning.  I  have 
written  unto  you,  young  men,  because  ye  are 
strong,  and  the  word  of  God  abideth  in  you,  and 
ye  have  overcome  the  wicked  one." 

It  must  be  for  a  special  reason,  that  John  satis- 
fies himself  with  a  single  address  to>the  children  ; 
while  he  feels  it  necessary  to  enforce  by  repetition 
what  he  has  said  to  those  of  maturer  age,  with 
whom  more  is  depending  upon  their  own  personal 
agency.  To  what  he  had  first  said  to  the  youth, 
he  here  adds  something  more ;  as  in  their  case  it 
might  be  needful  to  show  how  they  had  overcome 
the  Evil  One.     It  is  superior  strength  by  which 


victory  is  attained  ;  and  consciousness  of  strength 
is  natural  to  youth.  But  this  is  apt  to  be  con- 
nected with  self-confidence,  now  first  developed 
into  activity,  with  a  conscious  ability  to  meet  all 
dangers,  to  overcome  all  hindrances,  to  triumph  over 
all  enemies  in  one's  own  strength.  But  this  self- 
confidence  and  self-reliance,  will,  if  unsustained  by 
strength  from  a  higher  source,  soon  fail  in  the 
conflicts  of  life  and  be  put  to  shame.  The  Apostle 
directs  them  to  another  ground  of  confidence, 
another  source  of  strength.  While  he  reminds 
the  young  that  they  are  strong,  he  at  the  same 
time  indicates  whence  this  strength  is  to  be  de- 
rived, wherein  it  must  have  its  root,  viz.  that 
divine  word  already  received  by  them  and  faith- 
fully adhered  to  and  applied  by  them  ;  that  word, 
fast  rooted  in  their  hearts  and  abiding  there  as 
an  ineradicable  principle.  In  the  divine  word, 
therefore,  whose  vitalizing  power  is  the  life  of 
their  spirit,  lies  their  strength.  Already,  through 
the  might  of  this  divine  word,  have  they  virtually 
overcome  the  power  of  evil ;  in  this  word,  which 
no  other  power  can  withstand,  is  the  victory  given 
them.  We  may  translate,  "  abideth  among  you," 
or  "  abideth  in  you."     The  sense  is  the  same.     It 


93 

cannot  abide  among  them  collectively,  unless  it 
has  been  received  individually  into  the  heart. 

Having  thus  indicated  all  which  believers  need, 
in  order  to  maintain  successfully  the  con- 

[Cb.ii.  15. 

flict  with  the  world,  the  Apostle  concludes 

wdth  the  following  exhortation :  "  Love  not  the 

w^orld,  neither  the  thins^s  that  are  in  the  w^orld." 

These  words  have  been  often  misunderstood,  as 
if  requiring  for  the  perfection  of  the  Christian 
life  a  withdraw^al  from  the  w^orld,  and  from  all 
worldly  concerns.  Manifold  errors  have  arisen 
from  this  misapprehension,  w'hich  is  far  from  the 
meaning  of  the  apostolic  injunction.  The  New^ 
Testament  assumes  in  all  its  teachings,  that  the 
world  and  all  that  is  in  it,  as  proceeding  from 
God's  creative  hand  exists  only  for  his  service  and 
glory,  which  is  the  aim  and  end  of  the  whole  cre- 
ation. Man,  as  the  image  of  God,  should  have  it 
for  his  highest  his  single  aim,  to  actualize  this  pur- 
pose of  the  w^hole  creation  with  a  free  and  con- 
scious will ;  to  so  use  the  w^orld  that  all  things, 
each  in  its  own  way,  shall  subserve  this  purpose. 
Through  the  redemption,  and  the  new  creation 
proceeding  therefrom,  man  was  to  become  compe- 
tent thus  to  use  all  things  ;  as  Christ  did  not  wdth- 


94 

draw  himself  from  the  world  and  worldly  things, 
but  by  his  mastery  over  them  glorified  God  in  the 
most  perfect  manner.  The  Apostle  requires  only 
this:  that  God  should  be  the  single  object  of 
man's  unconditional  love.  No  other  love  may 
take  place  beside  it ;  but  this  unconditional  love 
must  wholly  rule  the  soul  and  the  life,  must  make 
all  else  subordinate  to  itself.  As  Christ  says  (Matt, 
vi.  21),  "  Where  your  treasure  is,  there  will  your 
heart  be  also."  The  object  of  man's  unconditional 
love,  whatever  it  may  be,  decides  the  whole  direc- 
tion and  character  of  his  life,  and  imparts  its  own 
peculiar  stamp  to  all  his  actions.  Now  love  to  God 
must  demonstrate  its  power,  by  giving  to  the  world 
and  all  that  is  in  it  a  reference  to  God,  by  using  it 
to  his  glory.  All  other  love  is  not  thereby  ex- 
cluded, but  on  the  contrary,  is  embraced  in  it. 
Every  object  of  affection  is  to  be  regarded  with  a 
love,  proportioned  to  the  place  assigned  it  by  God 
in  the  creation, — a  love  developing  itself  out  of 
love  to  God.  It  is  the  nature  of  true  love  to 
God,  not  to  withdraw  from  the  world  and  world- 
ly things;  but  in  accordance  with  the  pn]-])ose 
assigned  to  them  by  God,  to  use  all  to  his 
glory.     It  is  only  a  love  to  the  world  for  its  own 


95 

sake,  a  love  not  proceeding  from  God  and  referring 
all  to  him,  whicli  the  Apostle  here  forbids.  It  is 
the  world,  as  the  object  of  such  a  love,  of  which 
the  Apostle  here  speaks  ;  and  it  is  this  which  he 
represents  as  standing  opposed  to  the  love  of  God. 

In  this  sense  he  says :  "  If  any  man  love  the 
world,  the  love  of  the  Father  is  not  in  him."  It 
is  in  this  sense  therefore  we  are  to  understand  the 
assertion,  that  love  to  the  world  excludes  the  love 
of  the  Father.  That  God  is  truly  known  and 
loved  as  Father,  can  show  itself  only  in  this,  viz. 
that  our  estimation  and  use  of  all  worldly  things 
is  determined  solely  by  this  principle  of  filial  love 
to  God.  Nothing  can  stand  side  by  side  with  this 
love ;  all  else  must  be  subordinated  to  it,  must  be 
derived  from  it,  must  be  grounded  in  it.  Wha1> 
ever  claims  to  stand  beside  this  love,  must  be  op- 
posed to  it.  It  is  of  such  an  opposition  the  Apos- 
tle here  speaks. 

John  now  proceeds  to  exhibit  that  general  con- 
trariety, between  the    direction   towards 

[Ch.  ii.  ]6. 

God  and  that  towards  the  world,  under 
three  separate  forms  in  w^hich  the  love  of  the  world 
manifests  itself ;  and  this  he  does  in  such  a  man- 
ner, that  the  particular  appears  as  the  confirmation 


96 

of  the  more  general.  "  For  all  that  is  in  the  world, 
the  lust  of  the  flesh,  and  the  lust  of  the  eyes,  and 
the  pride  of  life,  is  not  of  the  Father,  but  is  of  the 
world."  When  the  Apostle  here  represents  the 
world  as  opposed  to  the  Father,  that  which  is  of 
the  world  to  that  which  is  of  the  Father ;  he  does 
not  mean  the  world  in  itself,  which  he  regards  as 
the  work  of  God,  but  in  a  moral  view,  as  connect- 
ed in  his  mind  with  that^  tendency  of  the  sonl 
which  cleaves  to  the  world,  seeking  therein  its  own 
highest  good  and  sundering  it  from  connection 
with  God.  "  The  world"  here  designates  the  rul- 
ing tendency  of  the  spirit  towai'ds  the  world,  the 
entire  amalgamation  of  the  spirit  with  it.  So  also, 
in  particular,  it  is  not  the  things  of  the  woi-ld  in 
themselves  of  which  he  speaks,  but  only  as  that 
general  direction  of  the  spirit  attaches  itself  to 
them,  manifests  itself  in  them,  identifies  itself  with 
them.  This,  therefore,  is  his  meaning :  all  those 
single  forms  of  worldly-mindedness,  wifh  whatever 
objects  of  the  world  they  may  stand  connected,  pro- 
ceed from  the  same  radical  tendency,  the  amalgama- 
tion of  the  spirit  with  the  world,  and  are  opposed 
to  that  tendency  which  proceeds  from  the  heavenly 
Father. 


97 

He  now  adduces  three  sucli  forms,  in  wliicli  at 
that  time  the  worldly  spirit  chiefly  manifested  it- 
self, and  against  which  christians  needed  to  be  put 
on  their  guard.  First,  he  mentions  the  fleshly  ap- 
petites ;  then  whatever  is  an  object  of  sensual  pleas- 
ure to  the  eye.  By  the  latter,  many  such  sinful 
pleasures  might  be  understood ;  as,  at  that  time, 
especially  the  prevailing  passion  for  heathen  spec- 
tacles, with  which  even  christians  by  intercourse 
with  the  heathen  world  were  liable  to  be  infected, 
as  shown  by  examples  in  the  second  and  third  cen- 
turies. Many  interpreters  have  regarded  it  as  re- 
ferring to  avarice,  inasmuch  as  the  avaricious  feeds 
his  eye  on  the  mere  sight  of  his  gold.  What  the 
Apostle  here  says  is  true,  indeed,  of  him  who 
makes  of  mammon  his  highest  good.  But  this  par- 
ticular reference  is  so  little  suited  to  the  words, 
that  we  are  by  no  means  justified  in  assuming  it 
as  the  Apostle's  meaning.  Thirdly  he  mentions 
vanity,  ostentation  as  exhibited  in  the  life,  state 
and  pomp  in  worldly  things,  show  and  sjolendor 
as  a  means  of  gaining  consequence.  He  means 
therefore  that  union  of  the  spirit  with  the  world, 
as  manifested  in  the  three  forms  of  sensual  appe- 
tite, of  pleasure-seeking  and  frivolity,  a  vain  love 


98 

of  pomp  and  show.  In  the  sense  thus  intended 
by  the  Apostle,  we  are  to  apply  his  language  to 
all  the  appetites  and  passions  which  make  this 
world  their  object,  and  of  which  he  here  gives 
only  these  three  characteristic  forms. 

He  then  proceeds  to  contrast  the  opposite  issues 
of  the  two  radical  tendencies,  as  illustrating 

Ch.  ii.  17.] 

the  difference  of  their  origin  and  nature. 
"  And  the  world  passeth  away,  and  the  hist  thereof: 
but  he  that  doeth  the  will  of  God  abideth  forever." 
All  that  is  in  the  world  being  perishable,  so  like- 
wise is  all  the  pleasm'e  connected  ^vitli  it.  He 
therefore  who  seeks  his  highest  good  in  the  perish- 
able, will  see  that  for  which  he  has  striven  the 
prey  of  destruction,  nothing  left  to  him  but  bitter 
disappointment.  But  he  who  does  the  will  of  God, 
and  on  that  fixes  his  love,  will  with  his  love  sur- 
vive all  that  is  earthly.  When  all  that  is  earthly 
has  passed  away,  he  will  have  attained  to  an  eter- 
nal divine  life  of  blessedness  ;  living  forever,  with 
that  which  was  the  object  and  end  of  all  his  striv- 
ings, in  a  state  beyond  the  fear  of  decay  or  death. 
From  these  practical  admonitions  John  now 
passes,  with  a  i^ersonal  address  to  the  mem- 

Ch.iL18.]   ^  '  A 

bers  of  these  churches  as  his  children,  to  a 


99 

warning  against  those  false  teachers  of  a  corrupted 
Christianity,  of  whom  we  have  spoken  in  the  In- 
troduction. "  Little  children,  it  is  the  last  time : 
and  as  ye  have  heard  that  antichrist  shall  come, 
even  now  are  there  many  antichrists;  whereby 
we  know  that  it  is  the  last  time.""  The  christian 
observer  of  the  signs  of  the  times,  learns  from  the 
Apostle  to  apprehend  these,  not  singly  as  mere 
isolated  phenomena,  but  as  links  of  a  more  ex- 
tended chain.  He  learns  to  inquire  what  place 
the  present  holds,  in  relation  to  the  whole  pro- 
gressive development  of  the  kingdom  of  God,  and 
from  this  to  judge  of  each  particular  event.  Thus 
Christ  too  requires  us  to  watch  the  signs  of  the 
times,  and  to  regulate  our  conduct  accordingly. 
We  should  not,  with  a  frivolous  inattention,  pass 
by  the  events  of  the  present  time ;  but  should 
seek  to  recognize  in  them  the  finger  of  God,  the 
leadings  «f  divine  wisdom,  and  apply  them  wisely 
for  our  own  direction,  and  for  our  influence  upon 
the  age.  We  should  hear  in  them  the  voice  of 
God,  calling  us  now  in  admonitory  tones  to  repent- 
ance, to  caution  and  watchfulness,  and  now  cheer- 
ing us  on  to  the  exercise  of  hope  and  trust.  The 
word  of  God  abounds  with  many  such  an  index  to 


100 

theriglit  imderstandiDg  of  the  signs  of  the  present 
time. 

The  Apostle  speaks  of  the  ])eriod  in  which  he 
was  writing  as  the  last  time.  So  he  designates 
the  christian  period.  And  it  may  always  be  so 
regarded,  as  forming  the  epoch  toAvards  which  all 
prior  revelations  of  God  tended,  and  in  which  they 
were  consummated  ;  the  whole  previous  develop- 
ment of  the  kingdom  of  God  being  only  prepai-a- 
tive  to  that  which  is  the  aim  and  end  of  all,  viz. 
the  appearing  of  Jesus  as  the  Redeemer  of  hu- 
manity. Henceforth  all  centres  upon  this  one  ob- 
ject,— that  the  new  element  introduced  by  Christ 
into  human  histoiy,  as  the  leaven  which  is  to  pen- 
etrate all  things,  should  develop  and  extend 
itself  more  and  more,  till  the  end  shall  be  fully 
accomplished.  Henceforth  all  may  be  regarded 
as  one  great  connected  period  in  the  history  of 
humanity ;  reaching  to  the  final  decision,  which  is 
to  follow  the  personal  return  of  Christ,  to  that  last 
sifting,  the  final  consummation  of  the  kingdom  of 
God  on  earth.  This  period  may  therefore,  without 
reference  to  the  question  whether  it  be  longer  or 
shorter,  ever  be  regarded  as  the  last  ti]\ee  in  re- 
spect to  the  development  of  the  kingdom  of  God. 


101 

It  is  certain,  however,  that  the  Apostles  con- 
nected with  this  designation  of  their  own  age,  as 
the  last  time,  another  and  more  limited  idea.  The 
signs  which  they  observed  were  ushering  in,  as 
they  believed,  the  last  time  in  the  strictest  sense  ; 
that  of  the  dissolution  of  all  earthly  things,  and 
the  second  coming  of  the  Lord.  They  were  not 
able  to  survey  and  compute  the  extent  of  the  in- 
tervening period  yet  to  pass  away.  If  in  this  re- 
spect the  event  did  not  answer  to  their  expecta- 
tion, w^e  shall  find  in  this  no  cause  of  stumbling, 
nothing  inconsistent  with  the  Spirit's  promised  il- 
lumination, by  which  they  were  to  be  guided  into 
the  whole  truth  made  known  by  Christ,  and  jDer- 
fectly  understand  it.  Though  Christ  had  indeed 
promised  them,  that  this  Spirit  should  show  them 
also  things  to  come,  yet  this  doubtless  is  not  to  be 
understood  in  an  absolutely  unconditional  sense. 
It  was  to  extend  just  so  far,  as  was  required  for 
understanding  what  he  had  taught  them  of  the 
divine  kingdom,  and  was  by  no  means  a  prophetic 
certainty  respecting  its  whole  future  development. 
An  error  therefore  in  chronology,  regarding  "  the 
last  time"  (properly  meaning,  in  that  general  sense, 
the  whole  time  subsequent  to  the  appearing  of 


102 

Christ)  as  a  period  of  brief  duration,  and  the  hour 
of  final  decision  as  near  at  hand ;  this  is  by  no 
means  inconsistent  with  that  promised  measure  of 
illumination  by  the  Holy  Spirit.  That  they  should 
"  know  the  times  or  the  seasons"  (Acts  i.  7)  was 
not  at  all  essential  to  their  calling  as  divinely  com- 
missioned teachers.  Christ  has  himself  said, that 
the  coming  of  that  last  period  was  something  hid- 
den from  the  an^-els,  and  from  the  Son  of  God 
himself.  The  Father  had  reserved  it  for  his  own 
decision.  It  is  easy  to  see  why  this  could  not  be 
otherwise.  That  closing  period  is  to  l)e  ushered 
in  by  the  whole  preparatoiy  develo})nieiit  of  hu- 
man history,  in  connection  with  the  series  of  con- 
catenated free  agencies,  and  its  coming  is  depen- 
dent thereon.  Hence  the  ability  to  fix  its  date, 
implies  an  entire  survey  of  all  the  divine  arrange- 
ments for  the  guidance  of  fr^e  beings  in  connection 
with  their  own  free  agency,  from  the  beginning  to 
the  end  of  time.  .  But  this  can  be  possible  only  to 
such  a  foreknowledge  as  is  grounded  in  divine  om- 
niscience. Thus  Christ  also,  to  the  inquiry  of  his 
disciples, — when  the  complete  manifestation  of  his 
kingdom  in  the  world  should  come, — replied  :  "  It 
is  not  for  you  to  know  the  times  or  the  seasons, 


103 

which  the  Father  hath  put  in  his  own  power." 
(Acts  i.  7.)  Christ  himself  here  teaches,  that  the 
iihility  to  compute  the  time  in  that  respect  does 
not  belong  to  the  office  of  his  disciples,  and  was 
not  necessary  to  it.  Thus  was  impressed  upon 
their  minds  the  limits  of  the  divine  and  human  ; 
what  they  were  to  learn  through  the  light  of  the 
Holy  Spirit,  and  how  far  they  were  still  to  be  left 
to  their  own  guidance. 

Their  longing  desires  hastened  towards  the  re- 
appearing of  their  Lord,  the  coming  of  His  king- 
dom in  its  glory.  It  was  with  them  as  with  the 
traveller,  who  beholds  from  afar  the  goal  of  his 
pilgrimage.  His  eye  embraces  at  one  glance  the 
whole  intermediate  space ;  the  windings  of  the  in- 
tervening way  are  overlooked,  and  the  distant 
boundary  on  which  his  gaze  is  fixed  seems  just  at 
hand.  It  is  only  when  he  has  traversed  a  part  of 
the  way,  that  he  begins  to  perceive  how  widely  he 
is  still  separated  from  the  destined  goal.  So  was 
it  with  the  Prophets,  when  they  looked  forward 
to  the  appearing  of  the  Messiah.  So  was  it  with 
the  Apostles,  Avhen  looking  for  the  return  of  their 
Lord.  As  the  traveller  in  space,  looking  away 
over  the  intervening  distance,  seems  to  behold  the 


104 

object  of  his  wanderings  close  at  hand ;  so  is  it 
with  the  travellers  in  time,  as  they  glance  over 
the  intervening  periods  towards  the  object  of  their 
longing  expectation.  Christianity  seemed  only  the 
transition,  from  the  earthly  and  perishable  order 
of  things,  to  that  which  is  heavenly.  Hence, 
their  gaze  being  fixed  alone  upon  that  heavenly 
state,  they  saw  the  earthly  only  as  ready  to  vanish 
away, — as  the  point  of  transition  to  the  heavenly 
and  eternal,  and  therefore  of  very  brief  duration. 
True,  Christ  in  his  parables  respecting  the  kingdom 
of  God,  as  for  example  when  he  presents  it  under 
the  figure  of  leaven,  indicates  a  more  slow,  a  grad- 
ual process  of  development.  But  these  words, 
like  many  others  spoken  by  him,  could  only  then 
be  comprehended  in  their  whole  scope  and  signifi- 
cance, when  interpreted  by  the  progressive  de- 
velopments of  history.  Not  till  then  could  it  be 
understood,  that  what  the  first  christian  age  sup- 
posed would  be  eft'ected  by  Christ's  personal  inter- 
vention at  his  second  appearing,  required  on  the 
contrary  a  long  preparatory  process,  in  the  gradual 
spread  of  the  leaven  of  Christianity  among  all 
races  of  men,  whose  extension  could  not  then  be 
known. 


105 

Christ  had,  moreover,  in  his  last  discourses  spe- 
cified many  signs,  which  should  precede  that  final 
decision  to  be  brought  about  by  his  second  com- 
ing. But  even  these  could  not  determine  the  ex- 
act date  of  its  occuri-ence.  For  as  the  same  law 
governs  the  whole  development-process  of  the 
kingdom  of  God  upon  earth,  so  do  the  great  pe- 
riods in  that  process  cori-espond  to  one  another ; 
the  same  law  repeats  itself  in  a  constantly  ascend- 
ing scale.  We  find  the  succeeding  periods  prefig- 
ured in  the  earlier,  as  the  earlier  serve  to  prepare 
the  way  for  those  which  follow.  That  last  pei'- 
sonal  coming  of  Christ,  for  the  establishment  of 
his  kingdom,  is  preceded  by  numerous  manifesta- 
tions of  his  spiritual  coming,  of  a  new  and  mighty 
revelation  of  Christ  in  the  life  of  humanity, — of 
a  new  coming  of  the  kingdom  of  God  with  power. 
These  form  the  great  epochs  in  the  develo]3ment 
of  the  kingdom  of  God.  By  these  w^e  may  dis- 
tinguish the  several  grand  divisions  in  the  histori- 
cal development  of  the  church.  So  too  the  signs,' 
which  are  to  announce  the  last  personal  coming  of 
Christ,  are  prefigured  in  those  w^hich  announce  and 
prepare  the  way  for  the  successive  manifestations 
of  his  spiritual  coming.     Each  great  division  of  a 


106 

new  coming  of  Clirist,  in  the  progress  of  liistori- 
cal  development,  points  to  tliat  last  personal  cop- 
ing, serves  as  a  type  and  preparation  of  that  clos- 
ing epoch.     The  same  law  repeats  itself  in  an  as- 
cending scale,  till  at  length  it  is  fulfilled  for  the 
hist  time.     Thus  in  Christ's  own  discourses  (Matt, 
xxiv.,  XXV.),  the  signs  of  his  first  mighty  spiritual 
manifestation  in  judgment  on  the  corrupted  The- 
ocracy, and  in  the  first  entrance  of  his  kingdom 
-with  power,  freed  from  what  ,had  previously  fet- 
tered and  obscured  it,^these  signs  are  so  mingled 
with  those  of  his  last  personal  coming  to  judge 
the  Avorld  and   to  consummate  the  kingdom  of 
God,  that  the  different  references  can  with  dififi- 
culty  he  distinguished  from  eacn  other.     Hence  it 
might  the  more  easily  happen,  that  at  the  coming 
in  of  those  several  great  epochs  in  the  historical 
development  of  the  church,  and  especially  in  the 
first  apostolic  times,  the  signs  of  the  present,  which 
were  to  be  re?peated  yet  many  times,  should  be 
taken  as  the  signs  of  that  more  remote  period, 
which  in  a  stricter  sense  is  designated  as  "  the  last 
time." 

Here  then,  in  the  last  discourses  of  Christ,  we 
find  a  law  for  the  historical  development  of  the 


107 

kingdom  of  God,  the  same  to  which  the  words  of 
John  now  under  consideration  are  to  be  referred, 
as  are  also  those  of  Paul  in  his  second  Epistle  to 
the  Thessalonians  (Ch.  ii.  4).  This  is  an  ever- 
recurring  law,  in  accordance  with  which  the  king- 
dom of  God  develops  itself  in  an  ascending  con- 
flict with  the  kingdom  of  evil ;  new  manifestations 
of  the  latter  kingdom  preceding  and  preparing  the 
way  for  new  and  moi-e  glorious  manifestations  of 
the  former.  Evil,  by  a  gradual  process  of  devel- 
opment attains  to  its  highest  point ;  the  kingdom 
of  Christ  then  develops  itself  in  conflict  with  it ; 
and,  at  length,  through  a  new  mighty  coming  of 
Christ,  the  kingdom  of  evil  is  once  more  subdued. 
Of  this  law  the  highest  exemplification  will  be 
given  at  the  final  coming  of  Christ,  and  this  is 
prefigured  in  each  of  the  great  decisive  epochs  of 
the  church ;  they  are  all  ushered  in  by  a  similar 
conflict.  This  is  a  view  rich  in  consolation  ;  but 
should  serve  also  as  an  incitement  to  vigilance, 
when  in  any  period  we  see  the  kingdom  of  evil 
pushing  its  encroachments  with  unwonted  vigor. 
This  law,  derived  from  the  word  of  God,  teaches 
us  what  we  are  then  to  look  for  as  about  to  come, 
and  to  perceive  in  the  present  the  germinating  fu- 


108 

ture.  The  Apostle  John,  observing  such  signs  in 
the  conflicts  at  the  close  of  the  apostolic  age, 
wherein  the  succeeding  stage  of  development  was 
then  preparing,  seemed  already  to  behold  the 
signs  of  that  last  time.  He  a23plied  with  pro- 
priety the  law  laid  down  for  him  by  Christ  him- 
self, in  reference  to  the  conflict  of  the  two  king- 
doms. But,  as  we  have  shown,  he  could  not  and 
he  need  not  know,  that  these  signs  should  be  often 
repeated,  till  at  length  they  should  announce  that 
final  epoch ;  that  this  law  should  again  and 
again  find  its  fulfilment,  till  it  should  be  perfectly 
and  decisively  fulfilled  for  the  last  time. 

John  assumes  it,  as  something  already  well 
known  to  those  whom  he  addresses  in  this  lettei', 
that  in  the  last  time  One  should  arise  whom  he 
calls  Antichrist.  He  could  assume  this  as  known, 
partly  from  the  instructions  received  by  the 
churches  from  himself,  partly  from  what  they  had 
previously  learned  through  the  preaching  of  Paul. 
Doubtless  their  attention  had  often  been  directed 
to  the  dangers  and  the  significant  signs  of  the  last 
time,  in  order  that  they  might  be  fully  prepared, 
in  all  watchfulness  of  spirit,  to  meet  the  great  im- 
pending conflict.     But  John  speaks  of  many  anti- 


109 

clirists  ;  and  thence  draws  the  conclusion  that  "  the 
last  time,"  which  was  to  be  known  as  such  by  the 
apjoearance  of  Antichrist,  was  now  near  at  hand. 
Does  he  then  mean,  that  by  Antichrist  is  to  be 
understood  not  some  single  personage,  but  only 
the  collective  sum  of  all  antagonism  to  Christ; 
the  name  being  merely  a  personification  of  that  in 
its  unity  which  was,  in  fact,  distributed  among 
many  individuals  ?  By  no  means.  On  the  con- 
trary, the  many  individuals  rising  up  on  every 
side,  in  whom  o2:)position  to  Christ,  the  anti-chris- 
tian  principle,  makes  itself  apparent, — these  seem 
to  him  only  precursors,  prophetic  omens  of  that 
One  in  wkom  this  principle  is  to  reach  its  culmi- 
nating point ;  who  is  to  appear  as  its  peculiar  rep- 
resentative, the  incarnation  as  it  were  of  the  anti- 
christian  principle.  Here  too  we  shall  find  the 
workings  of  one  uniform  law,  in  the  development- 
process  of  the  kingdom  of  God :  viz.  that  in  good 
and  evil,  there  are  certain  personalities  forming 
the  central  point,  standing  as  representatives  of 
the  conflicting  principles  ;  in  whom  that  which 
exists  as  scattered  fragments  in  many  individuals 
unites  as  one  great  whole.  On  the  one  hand, 
those  fragmentary  workings  of  good  and  evil  pre- 


110 

pare  the  way  for  that  one  great  personality,  in 
whom  they  severally  reach  their  culminating  point ; 
on  the  other,  it  is  through  the  agency  of  these 
great  personalities,  that  the  principles  which  they 
represent  are  diffused  through  a  multitude  of  oth- 
ers. Hence  the  Apostle,  from  the  numerous  indi- 
viduals whom  he  saw  rising  up  as  the  organs  of 
anti-christianity,  could  justly  infer  the  speedy  a})- 
pearance  of  that  great  personality,  in  whom  the 
anti-christian  principle  should  reach  its  highest 
manifestation. 

The  question  now  arises, — what  is  to  be.  under- 
stood by  Antichrist  and  anti-christianity  ?  Is  it  in 
general  opposers  of  Christianity,  of  faith  in  Jesus 
as  the  Messiah ;  for  example,  such  oj)posers  from 
among  the  Jews  and  heathen  ?  But  were  this  the 
true  meaning,  John  could  not  have  spoken  of  the 
advent  of  these  antichrists  as  something  new  ;  for 
the  idea  would  then  be  entirely  coincident  with 
that  of  the  world,  as  opposed  to  Christianity  and 
in  conflict  with  it ;  and  in  that  case  believers  must 
have  always  lived  among  antichrists,  and  needed 
no  such  special  warning  against  them.  Just  so 
certainly  as  they  themselves  believed  in  Jesus  as 
the  Messiah,  must  they  be  the  opposers  of  those 


Ill 

who  resisted  his  recognition  as  such.  There  could 
be  nothing  in  this  open  stand  against  the  Messiah- 
ship  of  Jesus,  to  tempt  them  from  their  fidelity  to 
him.  We  can,  therefore,  come  to  no  other  con- 
clusion, than  that  these  antichrists  appeared  under 
an  assumed  and  deceitful  garb,  by  means  of  which 
they  might  procure  admission  among  christians  ; 
and  if  these  were  not  firm  in  their  faith  and  clear 
in  their  christian  knowledge,  might  by  degrees 
gain  an  influence  over  them.  We  must  regard  it 
as  rather  a  disguised  than  an  open  opposition  to 
genuine  Christianity.  And  hence  too,  we  must 
regard  Antichrist  himself  as  an  adversary  of  Chris- 
tianity different  from  its  previous  opposers ;  as 
one  possessing  a  peculiar  power  of  deception, 
whereby  even  christians  might  be  seduced  into 
apostacy ;  as  one  who  wins  dominion  over  the 
souls  of  men  by  blinding  and  deceptive  arts,  put- 
ting himself  in  communication  with  their  religious 
necessities  in  order  thereby  to  delude  and  subju- 
gate them  ;  as  one  who  knows  how  to  instate  him- 
self, unperceived,  in  that  relation  to  the  human 
spirit  which  it  should  hold  only  to  Christ  and  to 
God.  Christ  too,  in  his  last  discourses,  points  to 
such  a  power  of  delusion,  exercised  by  those  who 


112 

set  themselves  up  as  prophets  and  Messiahs.  Here 
also  belongs  what  Paul  says  of  the  adversary,  who 
with  self-deilication  should  establish  himself  in  th'^ 
temple  of  God.  Hence,  accoi'ding  to  the  difi'erent 
foi'ms  assumed  by  the  antichristian  principle  at 
different  periods,  (v,'hen  a  new  spiritual  coming 
of  Christ,  for  a  new  glorification  of  the  church, 
was  about  to  be  evolved  from  the  conflict  of  his 
kingdom  with  the  kingdom  of  evil)  might  those 
signs  specified  in  the  Holy  Scriptures  receive  a 
different  interpretation.  And  this  not  without 
reason  ;  since  under  these  different  forms  was  first 
revealed  the  antichristian  principle,  whose  culmi- 
nating point  was  to  be  finally  reached  in  that 
representative  personality.  Thus  in  the  times 
preceding  the  Reformation,  when  the  secularized 
church,  guided  by  the  secularized  Papacy,  served 
under  the  christian  name  as  an  efficient  instrument 
for  obscuring  and  thwarting  genuine  Christianity, 
— one  might  believe  that  he  saw  in  this  the  visible 
manifestation  of  Antichrist.  And  Matthias  von 
Jarnow,  the  Bohemian  reformer  before  Huss,  might 
suppose  tliat  he  saw  the  craft  of  Satan  in  this,  viz. 
that  believers  instead  of  recognizing  Antichrist  in 
the  present, — in  the  domination  of  the  secularized 


113 

-elinrcli,  in  the  triumpli  of  superstition  even  to  tlie 
ileification  of  the  human, — were  beguiled  into 
seeking  it  in  some  distant  period.  In  our  age,  on 
the  contrary,  one  would  be  disposed  to  recognize 
the  preparatory  signs  of  Antichrist  in  the  self-de- 
ification of  the  natural  reason ;  which,  after  hav- 
ing developed  itself  under  the  influence  of  Chi-is- 
tianity,  now  arrays  itself  in  arrogant  self-conscious- 
ness and  vain  self-worship  against  that  very  Chris- 
tianity, without  whose  aid  it  could  never  have  at- 
tained to  this  self-consciousness.  The  question, 
"  What  is  Antichrist  ?"  will  be  interpreted,  now 
from  the  stand-point  of  superstition  and  now  from 
that  of  scepticism,  according  as  the  anti-christian 
principle  manifests  itself  in  the  one  or  the  other  of 
these  forms.  Each  of  these  interpretations  will 
have  its  share  of  the  common  truth,  which  the 
light  of  the  divine  word  imparts  in  the  delineation 
of  those  signs. 

Before  designating  these  antichrists  more  par- 
ticularly, John  speaks  of  their  rise  and  of 
their  relation  to  the  churches  from  which 
they  had  gone  out.     "  They  went  out  from  us,  but 
they  were  not  of  us ;  for  if  they  had  been  of  us, 
they  would  no  doubt  have  continued  with  us  ;  but 


114 

they  went  ont,  that  they  migbt  be  made  manifest 
that  they  were  not  all  of  us."  From  this  we  learn, 
that  these  antichrists  were  not  such  as  had  from  the 
beginning  stood  in  a  hostile  attitude  to  the  churchy 
but  such  as  had  gone  out  from  the  midst  of  the 
church  itself.  The  church  l^ad  tlierefore  carried  in 
her  own  bosom,  that  which  now  developed  itself  in 
conflict  with  the  spirit  which  formed  her  vital  prin- 
ciple. The  propagators  of  these  false  doctrines,  by 
which  genuine  christian  truth  wiis  corrupted,  and 
whom  the  Apostle  was  constrained  to  resist^  had 
themselves  once  been  numbered  with  those  whom 
the  church  acknowledged  as  brethren.  Now  this 
was  well  adapted  to  unsettle  christians  in  their 
faith ;  seeing  as  they  did  the  very  persons  whom 
they  had  known  as  brethren  in  the  faith,  who  had 
testified  of  the  same  christian  consciousness,  the 
same  christian  ex2:)eriences,  now  turning  against 
that  which  they  had  once  acknowledged  as  truth, 
and  inculcating  as  truth  something  entirely  differ- 
ent. The  thought  might  naturally  arise :  may 
not  these  persons  have  really  found  their  former 
convictions  to  be  erroneous,  and  attained  to  a 
clearer  insight  which  they  are  now  desirous  to  im- 
part to  others  ?     The  church  needed,  therefore,  to 


115 

be  guarded  against  tlie  prejudicial  influence  of 
such  an  example.  What  tlien  does  the  Apostle 
say  in  explanation  of  this,  and  for  the  consolation 
of  such  of  his  readers  as  might  be  disturbed  by 
it  ?  He  tells  them  that  these  persons,  although 
they  had  once  been  connected  with  the  church  in 
an  external  relation,  yet  had  never  in  heart  and 
soul  been  really  united  with  it  in  the  exercise  of 
genuine  faith.  He  distinguishes  between  genuine 
and  spurious  members  of  the  church  ;  between  a 
imion  merely  with  its  outward  and  visible  form, — 
apart  from  all  share  in  that  inward  spiritual  act 
which  constitutes  its  vital  essence,  genuine  faith  in 
the  Redeemer, — and  that  same  outward  union  as 
connected  also  with  a  participation  in  its  spiritual 
essence  ;  a  distinction  between  those  in  the  visible 
church  who  l)elong  also  to  the  invisible,  and  those 
who  by  the  governing  direction  of  their  hearts  are 
excluded  from  the  invisible  church,  and  belong 
only  to  the  outward  form.  And  what  does  he 
adduce  in  proof  that  such  is  here  the  fact  ?  The 
result, — that  which  has  been  made  apparent  by 
the  apostacy  of  those  persons  from  the  genuine 
christian  truth,  on  which  rests  the  essential  being 
of  the  church, — by  their  opposition  to  this  truth. 


116 

But  does  this  imply,  a-^  si2})i)Ose<l  by  many,  that 
apostacy  from  christian  truth  in  tlie  case  of  such 
as  have  once  made  it  their  [)i'inci[)le  of  life,  a  full- 
ing from  the  state  of  regeneration,  is  a  thing  im- 
possible ?  This  can  by  no  means  be  deduced  from 
these  words.  A  false  interpretation  is  given  to 
them  by  those  who  stretch  the  sense  so  far  ;  who 
make  of  the  Apostle's  declaration  in  i-egard  to  a 
particular  case,  a  principle  of  universal  application. 
The  word  of  God  guards  us  against  such  a  view^ 
by  enjoining  watchfulness,  even  upon  him  who  lias 
made  greatest  advancement,  solong  as  the  conflict 
of  the  earthly  life  shall  endure ;  and  by  warning 
him  who  is  confident  that  he  stands  fjist,  to  take 
heed  lest  he  fall  (1  Cor.  x.  12).  So  too  the  Apostle 
Paul,  that  mature  believer,  speaks  of  his  conflicts 
and  strivings, — ^lest  he,  who  had  preached  to  others, 
should  himself  be  found  a  castaway.  Such  an 
apostacy  cannot,  indeed,  be  supposed  to  take  place 
suddenly.  But  it  may  happen,  that  through  lack 
of  true  watchfulness  over  himself,  or  through  ftilse 
self-reliance,  a  lack  of  humility,  he  who  has  once 
attained  to  the  christian  state,  may  gradually  fall 
again  under  the  dominion  of  that  sin,  which  thougly 
subdued  by  faith  still  cleaves  to  him  ;  may  sink 


117 

down  again  from  the  height  to  which  he  had  thus 
risen,  and  so  lose  the  divine  life  once  received,  but 
not  faithfully  guarded  and  nurtured.  The  Apostle 
John  by  no  means  denies  such  a  possibility ;  he  is 
oiily  asserting  what  was  the  fact  in  this  particular 
case.  He  only  states  the  grounds  upon  which  this 
specific  occurrence  is  to  be  explained ;  which  by 
no  means  justifies  us  in  deducing  from  it  a  univer- 
sal law,  for  the  development  of  the  christian  life. 
What  he  says  is  no  more  than  this  :  no  such  radi- 
cal change  has  ever  been  experienced  by  these 
persons  of  whom  he  is  speaking.  What  now  ap- 
pears, openly  and  visibly,  had  always  really  existed 
thouo^h  under  concealment  and  dissruise.  Even 
while  still  attached  to  the  church,  they  had  been 
strangers  to  the  christian  truth  which  is  its  vital 
principle.  Under  the  mask  of  a  christian  profes- 
sion, they  had  concealed  the  same  views  and  feel- 
ings, which  now  manifest  themselves  in  open  op- 
position to  the  pure  christian  truth. 

By  this  expkmatiou  of  the  true  grounds  of  an 
occurrence,  which  seemed  likely  to  perplex  the 
minds  of  many,  the  Apostle  seeks  to  counteract  its 
influence  upon  those  whom  he  addresses  in  this 
Letter.    He  shows  them  that  what  so  awakens  their 


118 

surprise  is  nothing  new,  but  has  already  been  loDg 
preparing.  He  teaches  them,  moreover,  that  al- 
though the  causes  from  which  it  proceeded  were 
indeed  something  to  be  deplored,  yet  that  the  oc- 
currence is  in  itself  a  salutary  necessity  in  the  de- 
velopment-process of  Christianity.  It  served  to 
bring  out  in  a  clear  and  convincing  manner  the 
truth,  that  not  all  who  seem  to  belong  to  the 
church,  belong  to  it  in  reality  ;  to  separate  the  gen- 
uine and  spurious  members  from  one  another  ;  to 
discriminate  between  v/hat  is  truly  christian,  and 
what  under  the  christian  name  belongs  strictly  to 
another  principle  ;  to  carry  out  a  sifting  ])r()ct^ss  in 
the  development  of  the  cliurch.  Witli  this  is  to 
be  compared  Paul's  declaration,  tliat  there  must 
be  heresies,  in  oi'der  that  it  may  be  made  mani- 
fest who  are  the  genuine  members  of  the  church. 
(1  Cor.  xi.  19.)  That  which  produces  heresies  is 
indeed  an  evil,  is  something  to  be  deplored.  But 
that,  being  present,  it  should  thus  develop  itself; 
that  the  hidden  should  be  brought  to  light,  and 
what  is  kindred  in  spirit  coalesce  in  one  ;  this  is  a 
wholesome  necessity,  and  is  founded  in  the  course  of 
development  ordained  by  divine  wisdom  :  as  in  the 
diseased  body,  it  may  he  necessary  that  the  mor- 


119 

bid  elements  should  break  fortli  in  specific  crises, 
in  oi'der  tliat  tliey  may  be  carst  out  and  subdued 
])y  the  principle  of  healthful  life.  What  the  di- 
vine Avord  here  teaches,  is  a  law  which  can  be 
traced  through  the  whole  history  of  the  church. 
By  that  divine  word  we  are  raised  to  a  stand-point, 
for  the  contemplation  of  history  and  of  life,  whence 
we  perceive  in  evil  at  once  freedom  of  action,  per- 
sonal guilt,  and  that  higher  law  of  divine  all-direct- 
ing wisdom,  to  which  evil  itself,  when  it  comes 
fortli  to  light,  is  made  subservient. 

What  the  Apostle  here  sa3'S,i3  susceptible  of  a 
manifold  application  to  the  moral  phenomena  of 
our  own  times,  and  may  tranquillize  us  when  dis- 
quieted and  perplexed  in  view  of  them.  We  see 
the  contrariety,  between  christian  truth  and  the 
errors  which  oppose  it,  becoming  more  and  more 
cleai-]y  defined;  the  Divine  and  the '  Undivine, 
Christianity  and  World-worship,  encountering  eacb 
other  more  and  more  openly  in  the  avowed  con- 
victions of  men.  To  many  this  seems  to  have 
broken  forth  suddenly ;  and  they  know  not  how 
to  account  for  it,  that  darkness  should  be  permit- 
ted to  gain  such  an  ascendency.  But  a  deeper 
scrutiny  shows  us,  that  what  the  Apostle  taught 


120 

in  regard  to  the  moral  phenomena  of  his  own 
times  is  true  also  here  ;  viz.  that  the  cause  of  these 
inauspicious  symptoms  could  have  no  sudden  origin, 
but  liad  long  existed  in  the  hidden  germ.  It  is 
not  strange  that  it  should  fill  us  with  disquietude 
and  grief,  when  we  see  those  who  have  aj)peared 
to  us  zealous  advocates  of  the  same  christian  trutli 
which  we  profess,  whom  we  had  with  reason  1j(3- 
lieved  to  be  truly  of  us,  suddenly  go  over  to  the 
camp  of  the  enemy.  Whence  this  change  ?  How 
could  they  apostatize  from  the  truth,  after  having 
received  the  same  divine  experiences  of  its  power 
as  we  ?  How  could  the  grace  of  God  suffer  them 
to  fall  ?  How  could  that  faithfulness  and  truth 
of  God  deny  itself?  Should  not  He  complete  the 
work  which  he  had  himself  begun  in  them  ?  But 
the  Apostle's  words  furnish  the  true  solution  of  this 
difficulty,  and  relieve  our  perplexity.  It  is  but 
bringing  to  light  that  wliich  was  concealed.  Such, 
though  seemingly  of  us,  belonged  not  to  us.  Nor 
had  they  ever  held  the  same  ground  of  faith,  the 
same  divine  truth  with  us,  though  making  the 
same  profession  ;  and  whatever  zeal  they  might 
have  shown  for  it,  it  was  still  a  dead  form  under 
which  they  concealed  another  meaning.      Their 


121 

views  had  been  always  the  same  radically,  though 
cloaked  as  yet  under  the  christian  garb,  unrevealed 
to  others,  perhaps  even  to  themselves.  Such  per- 
sons, living  in  a  less  active  period,  when  these 
contrarieties  had  not  yet  broken  out  openly,  might 
have  gone  on  quietly  in  their  natural  course  of 
development.  Their  profession  would  indeed,  as 
now,  have  been  mei'e  pretence ;  tliey  would  have 
had  the  shell  only  without  the  kernel ;  not  the 
pure  element  of  christian  truth,  but  its  opposite, 
would  still  have  been  the  vital  element  of  their 
belief;  but  this  would  have  been  unobserved  and 
unknown.  Now,  however,  in  this  perio'd  filled  and 
agitated  by  so  many  and  openly  manifested  anii- 
christian  elements,  the  kindred  element  in  them  is 
attracted  by  this  influence,  and  is  impelled  to 
throw  off  the  disguise, — 'to  become  conscious  to 
itself,  and  to  seek  for  itself  an  open  expression. 

But  there  may  be  still  another  case.  These  per- 
sons who  seemed  to  belong  to  us,  may  have  been 
really  affected  by  the  influence  of  the  same  chris- 
tian truth  which  we  profess.  They  may  have  en- 
joyed experiences  of  its  divine  power.  But  with 
this,  there  co-existed  in  them  the  anti-christian 
principle  predominant  in  the  age;  and  hence  a 


122 

conflict  of  opposite  tendencies.  But  that  in  them 
which  was  allied  to  the  anti-christinn  spirit  of  the 
age,  at  length  so  gained  the  mastery  as  to  over- 
come the  genuine  christian  element.  And  thus 
they  themselves  became  sceptical,  in  regard  to 
tlieir  own  former  experiences  of  the  higher  life ; 
and  at  length  were  carried  so  far,  as  to  impugn 
that  for  v/hich  they  had  once  been  witnesses. 
They  belong  to  that  class,  in  the  Saviour's  parable 
of  the  sower,  in  whom  the  seed  of  the  divine  word 
springs  up  quickly, — all  the  more  quickly  because 
it  takes  no  deep  root, — and  through  the  hostile 
agency  of  the  adverse  spirit  is  as  soon  destroyed. 
Of  such  also  it  may  be  said,  "  They  went  out  from 
us,  because  they  were  not  truly  of  us."  Of  this 
class  Judas  Iscariot  stands  as  a  fearful  example. 
lie,  it  may  be,  once  expenenced  emotions  of  the 
higher  life.  He  may,  at  times,  have  received  di- 
vine impressions  from  intercourse  witli  the  Saviour. 
When  Judas  first  numbered  liimself  amons:  the 
disciples,  Christ  had  already  perceived  what  was 
in  him, — that  carnal  tendency  which  looked  for  a 
temporal  Messiah.  Yet  he  did  not  thrust  him 
away,  but  drew  him  to  himself  with  a  love  which 
sought  to  exert  a  saving  influence  upon  him.    The 


123 

other  disciples,  surreiulering  themselves  to  the 
Lord,  and  to  his  purifying  and  sanctifying  influ- 
ence,  were  by  degrees  freed  from  the  power  of  this 
carnal  spirit  of  the  age.  V/ith  Jndas,  on  the  con- 
trary, that  false  spirit  gained  more  and  more  the 
preponderance,  repi-essing  more  and  more  those 
higher  impressions,  till  at  length  they  were  lost  to 
him  altogether.  Thus  it  was  that  fiom  a  disci- 
ple of  the  Lord,  he*  became  his  most  malignant 
enemy  and  his  betrayer. 

Thus  enlightened  by  the  words  of  John,  in  re- 
spect to  the  cause  and  the  necessity  of  such  oc- 
currences, we  shall  be  enabled  to  regard  them, 
though  not  without  grief  yet  without  perplexit}', 
and  even  to  derive  profit  from  them  for  the  fur- 
therance of  our  faith  and  of  our  salvation.  We 
see  that  it  is  a  needful  sifting.  We  live  in  an 
age  of  sifting.  Those  who  have  the  reality 
and  those  who  have  only  the  shov/  of  Chris- 
tianity, those  who  belong  to  God  and  those  who 
belong  to  the  world,  must  be  more  and  more 
separated  from  each  other.  This  time  of  sifting 
summons  each  one  to  decide  for  himself  between 
these  two  contrary  tendencies,  no  longer  to  be  rea 
onciled  with  each  other,  but  standing  out  in  a 


124 

more  and  more  sliarply  defiDed  antagonism.  Eacli 
one  is  summoned  to  put  to  himself  the  momentous 
and  decisive  question  :  Under  whicli  banner  shall 
I  fight  ?  He  will  perceive  the  deep  significance 
of  the  words  of  the  Lord  ;  "  He  that  is  not  for  me 
is  against  me."  He  will  learn  to  watch  vigilantly- 
over  himself,  lest  the  hitter  root  in  his  own  nature, 
furthered  in  its  growth  by  the  kindred  but  poison- 
ous breath  in  the  life  of  the  *age,  shoot  up  and  in- 
crease, and  choke  the  good  seed.  It  is  plain  that  an 
encounter  with  the  open  manifestations  of  the  anti- 
christian  spirit  merely,  will  not  here  suffice  ;  it  is  the 
hidden  root  from  which  they  spring,  against  which 
above  all  we  must  turn  the  sword  of  the  Spirit. 
Having  thus  removed  the  occasion  of  stumbling, 
thrown  in  the  way  of  the  weaker  breth- 

Ch.ii.  20,  21.] 

ren  by  the  apostacy  of  these  errorists, 
lie  now  leads  them  back  into  the  depths  of  their 
own  inward  life  pervaded  by  the  Spirit  of  Christ, 
in  order  to  show  them  that  they  had  means  enough 
for  resisting  these  deceptive  appearances,  for  dis- 
tino"uishin2:  between  the  Christian  and  the  Anti- 
christian.  "But  ye  have  an  unction  [anointing] 
from  the  Holy  One,  and  ye  know  all  things.  I 
jiave  not  wi-)tten  unto  you  because  ye  know  not 


125 

the  truth,  but  because  ye  know  it,  and  that  no  lie 
is  of  the  truth," 

The  Apostle  here  presents,  in  contrast  with 
those  apostates,  the  whole  body  of  true  and  stead- 
fast believers.  Such  should  have  no  occasion  to 
fear  the  threatened  danger  from  those  falsifiers  of 
christian  truth.  They  should  carry  in  their  own 
hearts  the  touchstone,  wliereljy  to  distinguish  the 
Christian  from  the  Anti-christian,  the  preservative 
against  the  infectious  intlaence  of  error.  And  as 
for  you, — this  is  what  he  would  sa}-,  the  emphasis 
being  on  "you," — Ye  have  tlie  anointing  from  the 
Holy  One,  the  anointing  which  proceeds  from  the 
holy  God,  the  Father.  lie  is  here  called  the  Holy 
One,  as  he  througli  whom  those  who  belong  to 
him  are  made  holy,  filled  with  his  holiness,  and 
are  thereby  separated  from  the  unholy,  ungodly 
world, — the  chosen  from  the  midst  of  the  corrupt 
world.  The  name  Holy  One  is  indeed  also  a  des- 
ignation of  Christ;  and  it  might  be  referred  to 
him,  as  he  who  imparts  this  spirit  to  believers. 
But  the  preposition  here  used  in  the  original 
("  from")  would  naturally  direct  us  leather  to  God, 
as  the  eternal  source  from  A\hich  this  spirit  j)ro- 
ceeds.  (Corap.  John  xv.  2G.)     So  might  we  judge, 


126 

should  we  take  this  passage  by  itself;  but  since 
both  views  are  poissible,  and  both  convey  strict 
truth,  a  comparisoM  ot*  it  with  a  subsequent  pas- 
sage is  necessary  to  a  reliable  decision.  In  either 
case,  the  difference  of  conception  makes  no  altera- 
tion in  the  sense.  The  anointing  itself  consists  in 
that  Holy  Spirit  which,  proceeding  from  the  holy 
God,  is  imparted  to  those  only  who  are  his.  It 
j^laces  them  in  fellowship  with  him,  and  guards 
them  from  all  the  unholy  influences  inherent  in 
the  Avorld,  to  Avhich  also  belongs  everything  which 
threatens  to  falsify  the  pure  christian  truth. 

The  word  "  anointing"  suggests  to  us  the  ordi- 
nances of  the  old  dispensation,  from  which  it  wag 
borrowed.  Kings,  priests,  prophets,  received  their 
consecration  to  the  office  appointed  them  by  God, 
through  an  anointing, — the  symbol  of  the  power 
imparted  to  them  by  God  through  his  Spirit  for 
the  fulfilment  of  their  calling.  By  the  out\Yard 
and  visible  was  signified  that  which,  in  its  fulness 
and  completion,  was  to  be  wrought  inwardly  upon 
the  spirit.  Now  that  which  was  expressed  out- 
wardly under  the  old  dispensation,  and  by  a  sin- 
gle act,  is  in  the  New  Testament  converted  wholly 
into  the  inward  and  spiritual,  and  working  fioiu 


127 

within  embraces  the  entire  life.  That  which  un- 
der the  old  dispensation  was  restricted  to  individ- 
uals, entrusted  in  some  manner  with  the  guidance 
of  God's  people, — individuals  who  were  thereby 
separated  from  the  body  of  the  people, — now  un^ 
der  the  new  dispensation  belongs  to  the  people 
of  God  universally.  The  limitations  of  the  Old 
Testament  are  burst  asunder  by  the  spirit  of  the 
New.  First  of  all,  its  founder  himself, — the  sov- 
ereign in  God's  kingdom,  the  Saviour, — is  called 
the  Anointed,  the  Christ,  as  having  been  conse- 
crated to  his  work  through  the  fulness  of  the  in- 
dwelling Spirit  of  God  ;  as  possessing  in  himself 
the  fulness,  the  sum  of  all  those  divine  powers, 
which  were  only  imparted  singly  as  special  gifts  to 
the  prophets  of  the  Old  Testament.  So,  by  vir- 
tue of  their  fellowship  with  him,  are  all  who  are 
redeemed  by  him  made  partakers  of  the  Holy 
Sj^irit  which  he  imparts.  From  the  fulness  of  the 
divine  nature,  the  divine  jDower  dwelling  in  him, 
he  imparts  to  all.  This  is  the  inward  anointing, 
the  inward  consecration  whereby  they  are  in- 
wardly set  apart  from  the  world,  as  those  who  be- 
long to  God  through  Christ.  All  are  admitted 
without  distinction  to  the  same  fellowship  with 


128 

him,  and  I'eceive  from  him  the  same  inward  conse- 
cration to  their  divine  mission  through  the  Holy 
Spirit.  Henceforth  there  exists  no  more  among 
the  people  of  God  any  such  distinction,  as  un(]<^r 
the  Old  Testament  between  kings,  priests,  proph- 
ets, and  peojDle  ;  but  all  collectively  are  in  like 
manner  consecrated  to  God,  have  an  equal  part  in 
that  inward  consecration,  in  the  illuminating  and 
sanctifying  influence  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  It  is 
one  royal  priestly  generation,  whose  nobility  and 
high  office  is  alike  the  heritage  of  all ;  all  are 
prophets,  through  that  common  illumination  of 
the  Holy  Sj^irit.  Such  are  the  weighty  thoughts 
contained  in  that  single  word,  that  honorable  des- 
ignation of  believers. 

Believing  himself  justified  in  assuming  this  in- 
Avard  anointing  in  the  case  of  those  to  whom  he 
writes,  he  goes  on  to  infer  from  this,  that  they 
already  know  all  that  he  has  to  say  to  them, — all 
which  is  I'equisite  to  an  insight  into  the  nature  of 
christian  truth,  to  preservation  from  error.  In 
that  inner  fountain  all  can  be  found,  if  the}'  will 
only  surrender  themselves  to  that  inward,  hea\- 
enly  teacher.  He  disclaims  teaching  any  new  doc- 
trine, unknown  to  th(\'U  hitherto      It  is  not  as  a 


129 

missionary  to  those  wlio  are  yet  without  the  pale 
of  Christianity,  and  in  whom  the  sense  of  the  na- 
ture of  christian  truth  is  yet  to  be  awakened,  that 
he  sj^eaks.  This  christian  truth  is  already  known  : 
the  christian  consciousness  grounded  in  it,  and  a 
fellowship  of  christian  consciousness  between  hini 
and  his  readers,  already  exist.  But  why  then 
write  to  them  if  they  already  know  all,  if  the 
truth  which  he  would  present  is  already  familiar 
to  them  ?  It  is  to  revivify  the  consciousness  al- 
ready rooted  in  their  being ;  to  awaken  that  which 
slumbers  ;  to  call  forth  new  life,  new  activity  ;  to 
unfold  to  their  view  what  they  carry  in  their  own 
breasts ;  to  bring  them  into  a  clear  and  conscious 
possession  of  what  they  already  have.  He  says 
to  them,  what  they  should  say  to  themselves. 
Often  are  we  thus  directed,  through  a  word  spoken 
by  another,  to  something  which  has  long  had  its 
dwelling  in  our  inner  life.  It  unlocks  the  depths 
of  our  own  souls.  We  learn  by  it  to  understand 
ourselves,  to  perceive  within  ourselves  the  presence 
of  God,  All  genuine  instruction  in  the  truth  must 
aim  only  to  direct  to  the  One  Teacher  of  truth,  to 
God  himself,  and  to  serve  as  his  organ.  The  genu- 
ine teacher  of  truth   is  himself  fully  aware  that 


130 

sucli  is  hig  appointed  office^  and  lie  desires  no  other. 
It  matters  not  wlietlier  the  instruction  have  refer- 
ence to  those  universal  truths,  which  each  must 
learn  from  the  general  revelation  of  God,  of  the 
Eternal  Word  as  the  light  of  the  spiritual  world ; 
or  to  the  peculiar  truths  of  the  kingdom  of  God, 
of  the  Gospel,  the  witness  of  the  incarnate  Word, — 
the  very  truths  here  brought  to  view,  and  experi- 
mentally known  to  all  believers  through  that  in- 
ward anointing  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  Thus  the 
Apostle  is  far  from  wishing  to  make  l)elievers 
dependent  on  himself  as  the  teacher  of  truth,  to 
assume  that  it  was  from  him  they  were  iirst  to 
learn  what  is  truth.  On  the  contrary,  he  bases 
his  appeal  on  the  presence  in  them  of  the  fountain 
of  divine  truth,  not  possessed  by  him  as  his  pecu- 
liar property,  but  shared  in  common  with  those  to 
whom  his  exhortation  is  addressed.  He  presents 
himself  to  them  as  a  witness  of  that  christian  con- 
sciousness which  they  had  in  common.  It  is  to 
this  very  consciousness,  this  inward  knowledge  of 
christian  truth,  that  he  makes  his  appeal  when 
warning  them  against  the  errors  which  are  si")read- 
ing  all  around  them.  They  need  no  other  proof ; 
these   errors   must   show   themselves  to  be  lies, 


131 

tiirongli  their  contrariety  -with  tliat  truth  wMcli  ia 
experimentally  known  to  their  own  hearts.  By 
the  test  of  an  immediate  consciousness  they  will  at 
once  perceive,  that  what  gives  itself  out  for  truth 
is  but  a  falsification  of  the  original  christian  trutls, 
which  is  to  them  of  all  things  the  most  certain. 
This  is  the  proof  w^hich  they  carry  in  their  own 
souls,  the  inner  witness  to  which  the  Apostle 
makes  his  appeal.  It  is  on  this  very  ground  that 
he  addresses  them,  viz.  because  they  know  the 
truth  ;  and  can  therefore  accept  nothing  which  is 
not  the  fruit  of  this  truth,  nothing  which  denies  it, 
which  stands  in  hostility  to  it, — since  nothing  that 
is  false  is  of  the  truth.  This  he  can  properly  pre- 
suppose ;  and  he  needs  only  to  arouse  this  inward 
perception  of  christian  truth,  for  the  rejection  of 
the  falsehoods  wdiich  oppose  the  truth. 

What  now  is  the  application  to  the  present  age, 
of  the  important  truths  thus  deduced  from  these 
words  of  the  Apostle  ?  The  Apostles  stood  in  a 
peculiar  relation  to  the  churches  of  their  own  as 
of  all  succeeding  ages,  such  a  relation  as  no  man 
could  thereafter  hold  to  christians.  They  were 
the  instruments,  through  whom  the  true  image  of 
the  Lord  and  of  his  word  was  to  be  transmitted  to 


13:? 

all.  The  cliiistian  conscloiisiu,^-  of  their  own  time 
and  of  all  times  has  its  source  in  tlieir  testimony, 
is  developed  by  it  and  out  of  it.  They  form  the 
necessai'v  medium  between  Christ  and  all  sucoeed- 
ing  generations.  If  we  would  gain  the  knowledge 
of  Christ  and  of  the  v/ay  of  salvation,  Ave  must 
trust  their  testimony.  In  this  respect  the  church 
must  always  remain  dependent  on  them,  alway:^ 
stand  in  need  of  their  teachings.  But  although 
the  Apostle  John  was  fu\]j  aware  of  this  relation 
to  the  church,  he  wished  not  to  exercise  any  spir- 
itual domination,  to  present  himself  to  his  bi-eth- 
ren  as  the  teacher  by  whom  they  were  again  to  be 
instructed.  The  church,  having  been  once  estab- 
lished through  the  preaching  of  the  divine  word 
and  its  reception  into  the  inwai'd  life,  can  and 
must  bold  fast  and  apply  what  has  been  thus  re- 
ceived, as  its  own  independent  possession.  Through 
that  inward  anointing  from  the  Holy  One,  of 
which  the  Apostle  has  spoken,  should  all  be- 
lievers, independently  of  all  other  authority,  stand 
in  immediate  fellowship  with  Christ  as  the  only 
Master  for  all ;  and  the  christians  of  every  age 
should  be  thereby  united,  both  with  that  first 
apostolic  church  and  with  each  other.     It  follows 


133 

from  tills  that  no  one,  who  chiiins  to  be  a  teacher 
in  the  church,  is  justified  in  making  it  dependent 
•upon  himself  and  his  single  teachings,  but  that 
all  should  regard  themselves  only  as  organs  of  this 
common  inward  anointing  ;  that  they  should  only 
lead  the  way  to  this  inward  fountain  of  illumina- 
tion through  the  divine  word  which  is  its  source, — 
should  make  this  itself  an   object   of  conscious 
knowledge ;  that  the  only  aim  should  be  to  con- 
duct to  that  fountain  in  order  to  draw  therefrom  ; 
that  so  all  which  they  teach  may  approve  itself  as 
true  l)y  this  inward  witness.     That  all  may  be 
trained  up,  through  this  common  inward  anoint- 
ing, to  the  maturity  and  independence  of  a  per- 
sonal christian  consciousness  —this  only  can  be  the 
aim  of  all  instruction  of  others  and  all  spiritual  in- 
•    fluence  over  them.     It  follows  farther,  that  no  be- 
liever is  at  liberty  to  forego  this  maturity  and  per- 
sonal  independence,   bestowed    in    that    inward 
anointing,  or  to  place  himself  in  a  dependent  rela- 
tion,  inconsistent    with   this   birthright,    to    any 
teacher  whatever  among  men.     And  should  any 
one  attempt,  through  the  pretence  of  new  divine 
revelations,  to  make  the  religious  convictions  of 
others  dependent  on  himself,  or  to  set  the  teach- 


134 

ings  of  human  wisdom  io  the  phice  of  the  divine 
word;  there  will  ever  he  found,  in  that  inward 
anointing,  an  element  of  resistance  to  such  ari'o-' 
gated  authority. 

Another  conclusion  from  the  Apostle's  words  is 
this  :  that  the  nmltifarious  forms,  in  which  the  an- 
ti-christian  spirit  manifests  itself,  should  not  per- 
plex and  disquiet  the  believer.  lie  has  in  his  own 
soul;  in  that  christian  consciousness,  which  unites 
him  with  the  truly  Christian  in  every  age,  and 
with  the  apostolic  church  itself;  in  that  inward 
anointing  of  the  Holy  Spirit;  the  infallilile  in- 
stinct, the  certain  touchstone,  to  distinguish  be- 
tween what  is  of  Christ  and  what  is  of  Antichrist. 
It  is  only  needful  that,  watching  over  himself,  ho 
adhere  prayerfully  to  that  inward  divine  voice,  give 
faithful  heed  to  that  sure  oracle,  which  guides  the 
simple  and  humble-minded  through  all  adversities 
and  conflicts ;  so  will  he  be  secured  against  all  the 
delusions  of  pretended  higher  truth,  taught  by  a 
ftilse  conceited  philosophy.  He  is  convinced  be- 
forehand, that  whatever  stands  in  contradiction  to 
that  inward  anointing,  whatever  would  rob  him 
of  his  Christ,  however  lofty  may  be  the  words  in 
which  it  speaks,  cannot  be  ti'ue.     Neither  will  he 


135 

he  persuaded  to  sacrifice  that  individual  free  con- 
sciousness, impai-ted  in  that  inward  anointing,  to 
the  plea  that  a  higher  church  authority  is  needed, 
as  guide  and  leader  through  these  conflicts  of  the 
christian  and  anti-christian  principles  ;  or  that,  on 
this  account,  new  prophets  must  arise  to  bring  re- 
pose and  confidence  to  wavering  souls.  He  knows 
in  himself,  that  he  has  in  that  inward  anointing  all 
he  needs;  and  he  will  permit  himself  to  be  de- 
ceived by  no  promise  of  something  more  certain, 
more  reliable,  or  to  be  drawn  away  from  listening 
to  that  inward  divine  voice,  through  whose  teach- 
in  s^s  he  knows  all  thins^s. 

After  these  preparatory  remarks,  John  ])roceeds 
to  point  out  more  particularly  the  errors 

.  .  .  .  [Cli.  ii-  22,  23 

which  he  is  here  opposing.  ''  Who  is  a 
liar  l)ut  he  that  denieth  that  Jesus  is  the  Christ  ? 
He  is  [the]  Antichrist,  that  denieth  the  Father 
and  the  Son.  Whosoever  denieth  the  Son,  the 
same  hath  not  the  Father  ;  but  he  that  acknowl- 
edgeth  the  Son,  hath  the  Father  also." 

By  the  teachers  of  false  doctrine  then,  whom 
John  is  here  opposing,  he  means  such  as  do  not 
acknowledge  Jesus  as  the  Messiah.  Now  this 
might  apply  in  general  to  all  opponents  of  Chris 


136 

tianity  among  tlie  Jews,  to  all  who  indeed  ac- 
knowledged God  as  tlie  Father,  God  as  revealed  in 
the  Old  Testament,  but  not  Jesus  as  the  Messiah. 
But  as  we  have  already  remai-ked  in  the  Introduc- 
tion, this  would  be  too  general  a  designation  to 
correspond  to  the  special  characteristics  given  l)y 
John.  We  are  necessarily^  led  to  look  for  new  ene- 
mies of  genuine  Christianity  of  a  peculiar  stamp, 
such  as  might  actually  deceive  those  w^ho  did  not 
hold  fast  to  that  inward  anointing  of  the  Spirit. 
But  if  such  are  meant,  as  actually  denied  that 
Jesus  w^as  the  Messiah,  how  are  w^e  to  understand 
this  ?  The  answer  is  at  hand.  One  may  profess 
himself  in  words  a  believer  in  Jesus  as  the  Christ, 
and  yet  his  conceptions  of  the  person  of  Jesus,  or 
of  him  as  the  Christ,  may  be  at  variance  with  this 
profession.  Either  he  does  not  ti'uly  believe  in 
Jesus  of  Nazareth,  as  he  really  was  and  has  exhib- 
ited himself  in  his  life  and  history, — does  not  re- 
ceive the  true  historical  image  of  this  Jesus  as  a 
matter  of  personal  conviction,  but  has  dreamed  out 
for  himself  another  Jesus  ;  or  he  does  not  acknowl- 
edge him  as  in  tlie  true  sense  the  Christ,does  not  as- 
cribe to  him  all  which  belongs  to  him  as  such,  does 
not  assume  the  befitting  relation  towards  him  as 


137 

sucb.  Ill  either  of  these  cases  it  mierht  Ifb  said, 
that  one  who  holds  such  views  denies  that  Jesus  is 
the  Messiah.  That  wliich  stood  Ijefore  the  eye  of 
John,  was  the  divine  incarnate  Word, — in  the  per- 
fect union  of  the  divine  and  human,  as  the  veri- 
table Jesus,  the  Christ.  He  who  held  this  Jesus 
for  a  mere  man,  an  enlightened  man  like  the 
prophets,  not  acknowledging  him  as  the  Eternal 
Life  manifesting  itself  in  time,  the  fountain  of  di- 
vine life  ;  or  he  who  recognized  in  him  the  Son  of 
God  but  not  the  Son  of  Man,  denying  the  reality 
of  his  human  manifestation,  and  changing  his  di- 
vine-human history  into  a  misty  phantom ;  he  who 
thus,  with  reckless  self-will,  separated  the  Son  of 
God  and  the  Son  of  Man,  could  not  pass  with.  John 
as  one  who  truly  acknowledged  Jesus  as  the  Christ, 
but  must  appear  to  him  a  denier  of  the  truth. 
Hence,  with  reason,  John  accuses  those  falsifiers 
of  evangelical  truth,  as  described  in  our  Inti'oduc- 
tion,  with  not  acknowledging  Jesus  as  the  Messiah. 
And  as  these  persons,  finder  a  pretended  profession 
of  belief  in  Jesus  as  the  Christ,  were  yet  inimical 
to  him,  and  by  their  teachings  might  seduce  be- 
lievers from  him ;  it  was  so  much  the  more  neces- 
sary to  warn  against  such,  as  Antichrists. 


138 

Thus  explained,  we  can  readily  apply  wliat  John 
here  says  to  our  own  times.  It  applies  to  those 
wlio  do  not  acknowledge  Jesns  of  Nazareth  as,  in 
the  irue  sense,  the  Christ ;  to  Avhom  he  is  not  that 
which  he  should  be  as  the  Christ,  the  Messiah,  the 
Redeemer  from  sin,  the  Fountain  of  eternal  divine 
life,  the  only  Mediator  between  God  and  man,  the 
Founder  and  sovereign  Ruler  of  the  kingdom  of 
God.  It  applies  also  to  such,  as  do  not  acknowl- 
edge Jesus  of  Nazareth  in  his  true  historical  sig- 
nificance and  reality,  as  presented  to  us  in  the  gos- 
pel record  ;  turning  that  whole  record  into  doubt 
and  uncertainty,  sublimating  him  also  into  a  form 
of  mist,  and  leaving  a  mere  phantom  in  his  place  ; 
who,  i-ending  asunder  the  connection  between 
Christ, — Christ  in  himself, — and  the  human  his- 
torical appearing  of  Jesus,  convert  the  Christ  into 
a  mere  idea,  and  allow  it  only  an  accidental  con- 
nection with  the  historical  Jesus  thus  unsubstan- 
tialized  by  their  unbelief.  Hence  all  such,  in  pro- 
portion as  this  may  be  affirmed,  belong  to  those 
whom  John  designates  as  the  representatives  of  the 
anti-christian  spirit. 

The  preaching  of  Jesus  as  the  Christ  being  the 
fundamental  article  of  faith  in  the  apostolic  church, 


139 

tlie  foundation  upon  wliicli  the  whole  cluistlan 
life  was  to  be  built  up,  the  one  doctrine  which 
contained  in  itself  all  that  was  necessary  to  salva- 
tion ;  only  those  errors,  consequently,  were  regard- 
ed by  John  and  his  fellow-apostles  as  radical,  a^ 
belonging  in  their  essence  to  Anti-christianity, 
which  in  one  Avay  or  another  mutilated  this  our. 
cardinal  doctrine.  This  furnishes  the  clue  by  which 
we  are  now  also  to  judge  of  truth  and  falsehood, 
of  what  is  requisite  to  christian  fellowship  and 
what  is  irreconcilable  with  it,  and  by  which  we 
must  learn  to  estimate  everything  according  to  its 
own  intrinsic  value. 

Not  all  erroneous  conceptions  of  the  person  of 
Jesus,  are  included  l)y  John  in  what  he  tei-ms  auti- 
christian ;  but,  obviously,  only  such  as  do  not  ad- 
mit a  recoo^uition  of  Jesus  as  the  Christ  in  the  ti  ue 
sense, — only  such  as  involve  a  denial  of  this,  though 
they  may  not  directly  avow^  it.  This  also  teaches 
us  to  distinguish  carefull}^  between  conceptions  of 
Christ,  and  what  is  essential  to  the  recognition  of 
Jesus  as  the  Christ, — what  is  requisite  in  order  to 
present  him  in  the  true  relation  to  the  religious 
consciousness.  These  conceptions  may  correspond 
more  or  less  to  the  truth  ;  but  the  errors  are  not 


140 

necessarily  always  such  as  to  obscure  or  mutilate 
that  which  constitutes  the  essence  of  the  preaching 
of  Christ,  viz,  what  Christ  is  in  relation  to  the  I'e- 
ligious  consciousness.  In  more  recent  times,  chris- 
tians have  often  erred  through  neglect  of  such  dis- 
crimination; and  have  supposed  themselves  to 
differ  in  respect  to  faith  in  the  one  Jesus  Christ, 
as  the  ground  of  salvation,  from  those  with  Avhom 
they  were  only  at  strife  over  such  conceptions  of 
his  Person,  as  are  of  minor  importance  to  the  in- 
ward religious  experience.  Against  this  error  also, 
vv'e  are  guarded  by  the  standard  of  christian  judg- 
ment here  followed  by  the  Apostle. 

John  develops  still  farther  the  great  importance 
to  religious  belief,  in  its  widest  sense,  of  this  doc- 
trine of  Jesus  as  the  Christ.  He  shows  the  danger 
to  religious  faith  in  general  from  the  denial  of 
Christ ;  the  close  connection  between  the  doctrine 
of  Jesus  as  the  Christ,  which  constitutes  the  pecu 
liarity  of  christian  faith,  and  the  religious  senti- 
ment in  general ;  how  they  stand  or  fall  together. 
It  is  by  no  means  iinj)lied  that  the  champions  of 
anti-christianity,  whom  he  is  opj^osing,  expressly 
connected  with  their  denial  of  Jesus  as  the  Christ 
the  denial  also  of  God  the  Father.     At  a  later 


141 


period  indeed  we  find  a  class,  the  Gnostics  of  the 
second  century,  of  whom  tliis  might  be  said  ;  who 
(lid  not  acknowleilge  tlie  God  I'evealed  through 
Christ  as  the  Father  of  all  spirits,  tho  Creator  of 
the  Universe,  the  God  already  made  known  in  the 
Old  Testament.     But  it  cannot   be  conclusively 
|)r()ved  that  John  had  any  such  in  mind.    The  op- 
posite is  more  naturally  iirferable  from  his  words, 
viz.  that  those  of  whom  he  is  speaking  professed 
belief  in  the  God  of  the  Old  Testament  as  the 
Father  ;  and  John's  reproach  is,  that  with   them 
this  profession  has   lost  its  full  truth  and  signifi- 
cance.    In  renouncing  their  belief  in  Jesus  as  the 
Christ,  they  had  renounced  also  their  belief  in  God 
as  the  Father.     The  same  relation  holds  good,  in 
respect  to   belief,  in  either  case.     As  John,  upon 
the  grounds  already  explained,  declares  of  some 
who  professed  belief  in  Jesus  as  the  Christ  that 
they  were,  notwithstanding,  deniers  of  Christ ;  so 
also  he  declares  of  those  who  in  words  acknowledge 
God  as  the  Father,  that  by  denying  Jesus  as  the 
Christ  they  do  thereby  deny  God  as  the  Father. 
It  is  this,  the  necessary  and  inseparable  connection 
of  these  two  articles  of  faith,  which  is  here  meant. 
How  then  is  this  to  be  understood  ?     We  must 


142 

not  fail  to  notice  in  the  first  place,  that  God  is  not 
here  designated  merely  in  general  as  God,  but  as 
the  Father.  Now  as  tlie  Father, — He  who  witli 
inexpressible  father-love  draws  to  himself  the 
beings  estranged  from  him  by  sin, — as  such  lie  has 
first  revealed  himself  in  Christ ;  giving  his  only- 
begotten  Son  as  the  means  of  reconciling  to  him- 
self, and  of  restoring  to  his  fellowship  wliicli  is  the 
eternal  fountain  of  bliss,  the  alienated  family  of 
man.  In  him  and  through  him  do  they  first  recog- 
nize God  as  their  Father ;  only  through  him  are 
they  re-established  in  the  filial  relation  to  God. 
The  whole  life  of  Christ  is  a  revelation  of  divine 
Father-love,  towards  the  race  estranged  from  God 
by  sin.  In  him  is  first  presented  that  endearing 
relation,  into  which,  by  sending  his  Son  to  appear 
on  earth,  he  has  entered  with  man.  He,  the  Holy 
One,  could  alone  be  absolutely  the  object  of  the 
divine  Father-love.  It  is  in  the  Son  that  the  Fa- 
ther first  reveals  himself.  In  the  contemplation 
of  his  life  we  first  perceive  vvhatGod  is,  as  Father; 
first  learn  to  understand  his  paternal  love.  It  is 
from  him  alone,  the  only  absolutely  worthy  ol)ject 
of  the  divine  complacency  and  love,  that  this  love 
can  be  extended  to  all  who  are  in  fellowship  with 


145 


him,  and  in  wliom  Christ, — whose  they  are,  who 
dwells  in  them,  and  from  whom  their  whole  life 
issues, — presents  himself,  yea  his  own  self,  to  the 
eye  of  the  divine  Father. 

But  certainly  it  was  not  merely  this  John  in- 
tended to  express,  viz.  that  the  knowledge  of  God 
as  the  Father  is  dependent  upon  the  knowledge 
of  Jesus  Christ  his  son, — f^dth  in  God  as  the  Fa- 
ther upon  faith  in  Jesus  Christ  as  his  son.  He 
did  not  intend  to  say  merely:  that  to  deny  the 
Son,  is  necessarily  to  deny  the  Father  as  such. 
In  the  Johannic  sense,  this  has  reference  not 
merely  to  the  special  relation  which  God,  as 
Father,  holds  to  those  who  are  justified  in  regard- 
ing themselves  as  his  children ;  but  to  the  knowl- 
edge of  God  as  God,  in  its  most  general  and  un- 
limited sense.  The  knowledge  of  God  is,  in  every 
view,  based  upon  the  knowledge  of  Christ.  In 
proportion  as  Christ  is  known  and  understood,  is 
known  and  understood  the  God  who  reveals  him- 
self in  him;  as  John  himself  says  (John  i.  18): 
"  No  man  hath  seen  God  at  any  time ;  the  only- 
begotten  Son,  who  is  in  the  bosom  of  the  Father, 
he  hath  declared  [revealed]  him."  By  seeing 
cannot  here  be  meant  bodily  sight ;  for  the  Son 


144 

of  God  is  here  rej>resente(l  as  he  who  alone  cars 
behokl  the  God  wlioni  no  one  hath  seen.  But 
God  could  be  seen  through  the  outward  sense  by 
no  one,  not  even  l)y  the  Son.  As  Spirit,  he  is  t'oi- 
ever  the  Invisible.  It  is  not  therefore  the  l)odily 
sight,  but  a  spiritual  perception  which  is  here  in- 
tended ;  the  perfect  intuitive  knowledge  of  God 
as  the  Invisible,  that  is,  the  Incomprehensible. 
The  only-begotten  Son  of  God  could  alone,  by 
virtue  of  his  being  one  with  God,  truly  know  him 
by  direct  intuition  ;  and  from  this  knowledge  could, 
as  man,  reveal  him  in  a  form  comprehensible  by 
man.  Though  dimly  revealed  in  the  inner  con- 
sciousness of  man,  who  felt  himself  drawn  to  him 
by  a  mysterious  influence ;  yet  was  God, — in  his 
infinite  exaltation,  his  unfathomable  nature,  his 
boundless  perfection, — a  God  concealed  from  man, 
a  God  afar  off.  The  Spirit,  soaring  on  bold  wing 
in  search  of  God,  sunk  down  exhaiisted  to  the 
earth.  Often,  during  the  ante-christian  period,  we 
find  nothing  remaining  save  a  vague  feeling  of  tlje 
Divine  ;  or  the  idea  of  God,  having  become  wholly 
earthly,  had  given  place  to  the  deification  of  nature. 
God  was  not  recognized  in  his  exaltation  over  the 
world,  as  lie  to  whom  the  world  is  subject;  the 


145 

God  of  Heaven,  wlio  also  fills  the  earth,  who  is  at 
once  near  and  afar  off.  His  Beins:  was  brouirht 
down  to  a  level  with  that  of  the  world,  and  the 
conceptions  of  God  and  of  the  world  were  com- 
mingled into  one.  The  consciousness  of  God  wr.s 
lost  in  the  deification  of  the  material  world ;  or  ;i 
mere  empty  notion,  an  abstract  idea  of  perfection 
without  actual  existence,  was  substituted  for  the 
idea  of  the  living  God.  The  God  who  dwells  in 
inaccessible  light,  into  which  no  human  spirit  can 
penetrate,  must,  in  order  to  be  truly  known  by 
man,  come  down  to  the  human  and  within  its 
finite  limits.  First  in  the  revelation  of  the  incar- 
nate God,  could  the  God  afar  off  come  near  to 
humanity.  First  in  this  image  of  God  in  human 
nature,  could  the  idea  of  God  enter  as  a  living  and 
substantial  element  into  the  moral  and  intellectual 
being  of  man.  Man,  created  in  the  image  of  God, 
was  through  this  image  in  himself  to  rise  to  the 
Spirit  who  is  the  Father  of  all  spirits,  the  eternal 
archetype.  As  spirit  he  should  thus  recognize,  in 
his  essential  being,  that  highest  Spirit  from  whom 
all  spirits  emanate,  and  who  images  himself  in 
them.  But  the  image  of  God  in  man  having  been 
marred  by  sin,  and  the  connection  sundered  be- 

10 


14G 

tween  the  archetypal  Spirit  and  those  who  are 
formed  in  its  image,  man  has  thereby  become  in- 
competent for  this  knowledge.  Hence  the  more 
he  strives,  while  in  this  state  of  estrangement  from 
God,  to  lift  himself  by  the  mere  force  of  thought 
to  him  from  whose  living  fellowship  he  is  sep- 
arated, the  farther  does  he  remove  from  him,  the 
greater  the  errors  into  which  he  falls. 

Now  that  which  had  hitherto  been  wanting  to 
man,  the  perfect  image  of  God  in  human  form^ 
this  is  supplied  by  Christ, — the  perfect  man  as  the 
image  of  the  perfect  God.  God,  in  his  love  and 
his  holiness,  gives  a  perfect  reflection  of  himself 
as  such  in  the  life  of  Christ ;  for  it  is  only  in  the 
union  of  these  two  attributes  that  he  can  l>e  ti'uly 
known  as  God.  Now  we  can  rise  from  the  image 
to  the  original.  In  the  mirror  of  Christ  we  per- 
ceive Go^.  Here  we  attain  to  the  idea  of  God, 
thus  brought  near  and  placed  within  the  grasp  of 
our  spirits.  The  chasm  which  parted  us  from  God  is 
closed.  The  deeper  we  penetrate  into  the  nature 
of  Christ,  the  more  deeply  do  we  penetrate  into 
the  knowledge  of  God,  whose  perfect  image  he  is. 
Hence,  in  this  view  also,  as  the  confession  of  the 
Son  involves  the   confession   of  the  Father,  the 


147 

knowledge  of  tlie  Son  tlie  knowledge  of  the  EatLer; 
so  also  in  the  denial  of  the  Son  is  involved  the 
denial  of  the  Father.  Losing  the  real  Christ,  man 
sinks  back  again  to  that  previous  position,  where 
an  infinite  gulf  separated  his  spirit  from  God.  The 
previous  errors  develop  themselves  the  more  pow- 
erfully, as  through  his  apostasy  from  the  truth  he 
has  incurred  the  greater  guilt ;  the  ground  of  these 
errors  having  formerly  been  mere  ignorance  of  the 
truth,  but  now  a  wicked  denial  of  it.  Moreover, 
this  same  tendency  of  natural  reason  in  opposition 
to  the  Divine, — though  at  first  only  miugling  its 
sceptical  and  obscuring  influence  with  the  concep- 
tion of  what  Christ  is, — must  yet,  true  to  its  own 
nature,  go  on  in  a  progressive  and  more  complete 
development  and  expression  of  itself,  extending 
that  influence  over  the  religious  sense  in  general. 
And  thus,  in  every  view,  is  sustained  the  truth  of 
the  Apostle's  words,  that  he  who  deni*  the  Son, 
the  same  has  not  the  Father ;  but  he  who  con- 
fesses the  Son  has  the  Father  also. 

We  must  not  overlook  what  is  further  implied 
in  these  words ;  viz.  that  with  confession,  in  the 
true  sense  of  the  word,  there  must  be  connected 
also  a  HAVING  of  that  which  is  presupposed  as  the 


148 

object  of  confession,  of  faith,  of  knowledge.  lie 
who  confesses  the  Sou,  in  the  true  sense  of  the 
word,  he  who  knows  him  and  believes  on  him, 
also  HATii  him.  He  stands  in  the  most  intimate 
fellowship  of  life  with  Christ,  and  through  him  in 
the  same  fellowship  with  the  Father.  Through 
this  fellowship  he  knows  God,  as  He  can  only 
through  this  be  known,  through  this  his  self-rev- 
elation in  the  consciousness  of  such  as  in  the  Sou 
have  the  Father  also, — the  Father,  to  whom  none 
can  ever  rise  by  mere  effort  of  thought,  apart  fi-oni 
a  union  of  the  life  with  him.  And  thus,  Avhoever 
detaches  himself  from  this  union  with  Christ  and 
denies  him,  having  him  no  longer  present  in  his 
life,  thereby  renounces  also  union  with  the  Father. 
He  can  no  longer  know  him  whom  he  no  longer 
HAS,  with  whom  he  is  no  longer  connected  through 
fellowship  with  Christ. 

As  the|e  words  of  John  are  confirmed  by  the 
whole  history  of  the  human  spirit,  since  the  time 
they  were  written  ;  so  does  the  present  age  furnish 
a  peculiarly  emphatic  witness  of  their  truth.  The 
study  of  passing  events  serves,  in  no  small  degree, 
to  elucidate  the  deep  meaning  of  these  pregnant 
words ;  as  they,  on  the  other  hand,  become  spe- 


149 

cially  important  to  the  higher  interests  of  our 
own  times,  when  we  learn  how  to  apply  them. 
We  see,  that  as  those  j-adical  errors  in  the  concep- 
tion of  Christ's  person  have  reappeared  in  the  same 
unti-christian  tendencies  which  John  opposed,  and 
men  have  departed  from  the  true  Christ;  the 
same  radical  tendency  of  the  natural  reason  grad- 
ually led  on  to  the  misapprehension  and  denial  of 
God,  whom  Christ  has  revealed  to  us  as  the  Father. 
It  was  a  tendency  which  at  first,  while  thus  limit- 
ing and  mutilating  the  doctrine  of  Christ,  yet 
sought  to  maintain  its  hold  of  the  doctrine  of  God 
as  the  Father,  to  whom  it  ascribed  the  influence 
of  Christianity.  But,  as  we  have  seen,  it  was  con- 
tinually impelled  by  its  own  nature  to  overstep 
these  boundaries.  First,  that  intimate  filial  rela- 
tion to  God  as  Father  was  lost ;  only  the  general 
reference  to  God  as  the  Unknown,  the  God  afar  off, 
remained.  Then  was  the  God  of  heaven,  the  living 
personal  God,  also  lost.  The  deification  of  the 
world, — opposing  itself  to  everything  supernatural 
in  the  Divine,  to  everything  which  can  be  per- 
ceived only  by  faith,  and  cannot  be  apprehended 
by  the  senses,  or  by  the  natural  reason  confined  as 
it  is  within  the  limits  of  the  world, —  widened  its 


150 

grasp  continually,  and  developed  more  and  more 
in  denial  and  destruction  its  anti-christian  power. 
What  at  first  was  professedly  only  a  matter  of 
knowledge,  became  more  and  more  an  element  of 
life.  And  thus  will  the  declai-ation  of  John  for- 
ever continue  to  be  verified.  As  Christ  is  the 
centre  around  which  all  turns,  and  in  reference  to 
the  most  vital  contrarieties  in  opinion  and  life  this 
only  is  of  account, — what  is  the  relation  to  Chiist ; 
as  w^e  have  all,  or  lose  all  with  him  ;  so  the  dis- 
tinction comes  out  with  continually  increasing  clear- 
ness, between  having  Christ  and  with  him  having 
the  Father,  or  losinir  the  Son  and  witli  liini  the 
Father,  and  at  the  same  time  all  tliat  is  divine,  all 
wherein  the  God-related  spirit  can  enjoy  posses- 
sion of  itself,  can  find  its  true  life. 

The  Apostle  concludes  this  warning  by  again 
enforcing  the  exhortation,  that  they  hold 

Ch.  ii.  24,  25.] 

fast  and  faithfully  preserve  what  they 
have  received ;  so  should  the  gifts  of  grace  also 
remain  theirs.  "  Let  that  therefore  abide  in  you, 
which  ye  have  heard  from  the  beginning.  If  that 
which  ye  have  heard  from  the  beginning  shall  I'e- 
main  in  yon,  ye  also  shall  continue  in  the  Son,  and 


151 

ill  the  Father.  And  this  is  the  promise  that  he 
luith  promised  ns,  even  eternal  life." 

Here  as^ain  in  the  oris-inal  Greek,  the  "  Ye"  hi 

O  0  7 

placed  first  ("  Ye  therefore,"  which  we  cannot  imi- 
tate), in  emphatic  contrast  with  those  heretic.il 
teachers.  For  as  these,  through  their  apostacy 
from  the  original  truth,  had  again  estranged  them- 
selves from  that  fellowship  with  God  as  the  Fathei-, 
which  is  received  through  Christ;  so  on  tlie  con- 
trary, should  the  church  be  distingnislu'd  from 
them  by  a  faithful  adherence  to  that  original 
teaching,  and  by  so  doing  abide  also  in  fellowship 
with  the  Son  and  with  the  Father.  AYhat  they 
have  received  from  the  beginning  is  to  remain  in 
them  ;  being  something  abiding,  not  a  mere  exter- 
nal thing,  which  like  an  empty  sound  had  passed 
by  them.  As  they  have  received  it  into  their  in- 
ward life,  so  should  it  ever  remain  deeply  im- 
printed in  their  spirits.  And  as  it  is  through  the 
preached  word,  received  into  their  hearts,  that 
they  have  attained  to  fellowship  with  the  Father 
through  the  mediating  Son  ;  the  indwelling  of  this 
truth  in  their  hearts  is  made  tlie  condition, on  which 
they  should  continue  to  abide  in  fellowship  with 
the  Son,  and  through  him  with  the  Father.     This 


152 

continuing  m  the  Son  and  the  Father,  we  must 
endeavor  to  apprehend  in  the  full  significance  of 
the  terra.  This  iis^  can  be  exchanged  for  no  other 
word.  It  declares  that  their  life  has  its  being  in 
Jesus  as  the  Son  of  God,  and  through  this,  in  the 
Father  whom  he  has  revealed  as  such,  and  with 
whom  he  has  brought  them  into  fellowship.  In  the 
Gospel  of  John,  the  two  things  are  always  present- 
ed as  connected  with  each  other,  as  involved  in  each 
other;  viz.  the  abiding  of  believers  in  Christ  and  his 
abiding  in  them.  The  communication  of  Christ  to 
the  believer, — wherein  the  whole  christian  life  has 
its  root, — and  the  continuance  of  this  communica- 
tion, appears  therefore  as  something  dependent 
upon  their  susceptibility  for  this  divine  gift,  upon 
the  free  surrender  of  themselves  to  Christ.  So  soon 
as  they,  through  the  bent  of  the  Avill,  abandon 
their  original  relation  to  Christ,  will  Christ  also 
depart  from  them.  All  liangs  upon  the  uncon- 
strained susceptiljility,  the  direction  of  the  will  in 
man.  Hence,  whatevei'  may  be  the  enjoyment  of 
divine  grace  in  the  christian  life,  the  requirement 
is  still  binding  on  man  to  watch  unceasingly  over 
himself,  lest  througli  his  own  fiiult  he  should  again 
lose  the  heavenly  gift  which  he  has  received.    The 


153 

means  on  their  part  for  continuing  in  fellowship 
with  Christ  is,  in  John's  view,  holding  fast  the 
doctrines  originally  made  known  to  them.  By 
this  he  does  not  mean  merely  retaining  them  in 
the  memory,  in  the  understanding;  but  so  holding 
them  fast  that  this  truth  shall  remain  an  indwell- 
ing and  determining  principle  of  their  inner  life. 
As  an  encouragement  to  fidelity,  he  shows  them 
what  on  this  condition  they  have  a  right  to  expect. 
He  sums  up  the  whole  in  one  all-embracing  prom- 
ise,— the  eternal  life  which  Christ  has  promised  to 
those  who  abide  in  fellowship  with  him ;  for,  as 
he  has  before  said,  in  Christ  has  this  eternal  life 
itself  appeared  personally  in  humanity.  There  is, 
for  the  God-related  spirit,  no  other  blessedness 
than  this  life  for  which  he  was  created,  and  in 
which  alone  he  can  find  satisfaction  for  all  the 
wants  im]3lanted  in  his  godlike  nature.  It  is  called 
The  Life,  absolutely,  inasmuch  as  it  is  the  partici- 
pation in  that  which  alone,  in  the  truest  and  high- 
est, in  an  unqualified  sense,  can  be  called  life,  the 
life  of  God  himself ;  as  to  the  God-related  spirit, 
which  can  only  find  in  God  its  true  life,  the  want 
of  it  is  Death.  It  is  called  eternal  life,  inasmuch 
as  it  is  in  its  very  natui-e  exalted  above  all  change 


154 

of  time,  in  its  very  nature  eternal,  belonging  not  to 
the  transitory  temporal  existence,  but  to  eternity. 
Where  it- has  once  taken  up  its  abode,  it  can  no 
moi'e  be  disturbed  and  interrujDted  by  death  ;  but, 
victorious  over  all  death,  unfolds  itself  in  pro- 
gressive and  glorious  development  forever.  Hence 
Christ,  in  the  Gospel  of  John,  speaks  of  it  as  the 
fountain  which  gushes  up  into  eternal  life  ;  a  river, 
checked  by  no  barriers,  pouring  along  from  the 
once  imparted  source,  into  the  eternal  and  the  in- 
finite. And  hence  it  is  said,  that  he  who  believes 
in  Christ  has  eternal  life  ;  in  this  Believing,  it  is 
his  already.  The  future  blessedness  promised  to 
the  christian  is  not,  therefore,  something  essentially 
different  from  what  he  has  already  received  in  the 
earthly  life  through  faith,  and  to  be  added  from 
without  as  something  new.  In  its  germ  and  es- 
sence, it  is  contained  in  what  he  already  has.  It 
needs  only  to  burst  from  the  imprisoning  shell,  in 
order  to  i-eveal  itself  in  its  own  inherent  glor3^ 
John  concludes  by  a  reference  to  the  inward 
anointing  of  those  whom  he  addresses, 

Ch.  ii.  26,  27.]     .  •  ,  n  ^ 

in  contrast  with  those  fiilse  teachers. 
"  These  things  have  I  written  unto  you,  concern- 
ing them  that  seduce  you.     But   the   anointing. 


U5 


wliicli  ye  have  received  of  him,  abidetli  in  you,  aud 
ye  need  not  that  any  man  teach  you :  but  as  the 
same  anointing  teacheth  you  of  all  things,  and  is 
truth  and  is  no  lie,  and  even  as  it  hath  taught  you, 
ye  shall  abide  in  him."     The  Apostle  repeats  the 
assurance  of  his  beliel^  that  he  need  add  nothing 
new  by  way  of  guarding  them  against  those  false 
teachers;  he  need  only  refer, for  adequate  instruc- 
tion in  all  things,  to  that  inner  fountain  of  divine 
illumination,  that  inward  anointing.     This  anoint- 
ing is  here  designated,  as  that  which  they  have 
received  from  him ;  and  the  reference  might  be  to 
the  source  in  which  it  originates,  to  the  Father  by 
whom  this  spirit  is  bestowed.   But  as  the  pronoun 
here  employed,  without  any  more  definite  appli- 
cation, always  refers  in  this  connection  to  Christ, 
that  reference  is  to  be  retained  also  in  this  passage. 
What  is  asserted  is  therefore  this:  the  communi- 
cation of  this  Spirit  is  procured  through  the  medi- 
ating Christ;  as  imparted  through  Christ,  it  is 
said  to  have  been  received  from  him.     Just  so 
this  Spirit  is  at  one  time  designated  as  he  who 
proceeds  from  the  Father,  whom  Christ  sends  from 
the  Father,  whom  the  Father  bestows  for  the  sake 
of  Christ;  and  at  another,   as  the  Spirit  which 


156 

Clirist  imparts  to  those  who  believe  on  him,  as  the 
Spirit  of  Christ,  so  that  Christ's  spiritual  coming 
to  believers  is  a  coming  in  and  with  this  Spirit. 
If  now  we  proceed  in  accordance  with  Luther's 
version,  it  is  here  John's  first  and  sj^ecial  object  to 
say, — that  v/hat  this  inward  anointing  teaches  re- 
specting all  things  is  the  perfect  truth  without 
mixture  of  error,  and  they  needed  therefore  only 
to  adhere  faithfully  to  it.  In  this  view,  the  devel- 
opment of  thought  proceeds  on  regularly  in  what 
follows.  Still  it  may  be  asked,  whether  John 
would  have  presented  so  prominently  (as  some- 
thing of  special  importance  in  itself)  the  assertion 
that  all,  as  this  anointing  teaches  it,  is  ti-ue  an<l 
there  is  nothing  false  in  it ;  whether  it  is  not  prob- 
able, rather,  that  he  throws  in  as  an  independent 
and  accessory  thought  the  words, — "  and  as  it  is 
truth  and  no  falsehood," — and  then  proceeds  (re- 
peating the  previous  clause  in  consequence  of  this 
interruption),  "And  even  as  it  has  been  taught 
you,  so  shall  ye  abide  in  him."  The  '  in  him' 
must  be  referred  to  him  who  is  here  the  one  object 
of  reference,  to  Christ.  In  the  assured  trust  that 
the  church  will  ever  continue  to  yield  itself  to  the 
teachings  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  and  being  guided  by 


157 

his  illuminating  grace  will  ever  remain  true  to  tlie 
doctrine  which  they  have  received,  he  feels  assured 
also  that  they  will  ever  abide  in  fellowship  with 
Christ. 

Pausing  upon  the  thought  thus  suggested,  the 
Apostle  now  turns  to  them  ao'ain  with  a 

[Ch.  ii.  28. 

personal  appeal.  In  a  father's  tone  he 
exhorts  them  to  steadfast  perseverance  in  this  di- 
rection of  the  life,  till  they  attain  the  final  goal. 
"And  now,  little  children,  abide  in  him;  that 
when  he  shall  appear  we  may  have  confidence, 
and  not  be  ashamed  before  him  at  his  comins^." 

As  the  coming  of  Christ  was,  from  causes  al- 
ready mentioned,  then  expected  as  something  close 
at  hand,  and  the  eye,  overleaping  all  that  lay  be- 
tween, fixed  itself  upon  that  event ;  so  the  Apostle 
here  overlooks  all  which  is  to  follow  immediate- 
ly after  death,  and  turns  at  once  to  the  day  of 
final  decision.  This  he  calls  the  appearing  of 
Christ.  In  this  it  is  necessarily  implied  that  Christ 
now  lives  in  his  glory  with  the  Father,  he  and  his 
glory  still  hidden  fi-om  the  world  and  manifest 
only  to  believers ;  that,  in  his  appearing,  what  is 
now  thus  hidden  shall  l)e  revealed.  Christ  in  his 
glory  shall  then  become  manifest  to  all,  as  now  he 


158 

is  manifest,  throngli  tlie  medium  of  faith,  to  tlie 
believer.  Placing  this  goal  before  the  eye  of  be- 
lievers, the  Apostle  exhorts  them  to  abide  so  faith- 
fully, through  the  direction  of  their  life,  in  that 
fellowship  with  Christ  to  which  they  have  been 
admitted,  that  they  may  be  able  in  that  day  to 
appear  before  him  their  Judge,  with  a  quiet  and 
assured  conscience.  The  word  here  employed  in 
the  Greek,  indicates  an  absolute  unshaken  confi- 
dence, as  between  friend  and  friend.  In  such  a 
relation  should  believers  stand  to  Christ.  Con- 
scious of  remaining  ever  faithful  to  him,  and  stand- 
ing in  this  relation,  they  will  not  need  to  be 
ashamed  in  the  presence  of  him  to  whom  their 
whole  life  is  manifest.  But  the  Apostle  here 
passes  from  the  second  to  the  first  person ;  for  in- 
volved as  he  still  is  in  the  conflict  of  the  earthly 
life,  he  feels  himself  the  necessity  of  watchfulness. 
Hence,  when  speaking  of  the  direction  of  the  life 
towards  this  final  goal,  he  does  not  exalt  himself 
above  other  christians,  but  speaks  as  one  who  is 
on  a  level  with  them. 

This  faithful  abiding  in  fellowship  with  Chi-ist, 
by  virtue  of  which  believers  will  in  that 

Ch.  ii.  29.] 

day   stand   with    untroubled    conscience 


150 

before  the  Lord,  in  the  sense  of  John  embraces 
the  entire  life ;  including  not  merely  opposition  to 
radical  errors  in  doctrine,  but  to  all  sin  by  which 
the  christian  life  might  he  defiled.  Thus  a  new 
division  now  commences,  with  reference  to  the 
shunning  of  everything  sinful :  "  If  ye  know  that 
he  is  righteous,  ye  know  that  every  one  that  doeth 
righteousness  is  bcfi'n  of  him." 

These  words  are  more  closely  connected  with 
what  follows  than  with  what  precedes ;  and  we 
must  therefore  here  refer  the  pronoun,  not  to 
Christ,  but  to  God.  The  close  connection  between 
the  references  to  Christ  and  to  God,  renders  this 
transition  easy,  without  any  formal  designation  of 
it.  It  here  arises  naturally  out  of  the  conception, 
which  in  all  that  follows  underlies  the  Apostle's 
course  of  thought.  The  appellation  "  Righteous" 
admits  indeed  of  a  reference  to  Christ ;  and  as  the 
subject  of  remark  now  is  a  being  of  believers  in 
Christ,  and  their  whole  life  is  contemplated  as 
having  its  source  in  him,  as  derived  fi'om  him 
and  vitalized  by  him,  so  also  it  might  be  said 
that  they  were  born  of  Christ.  But  the  Apos- 
tle's uniform  manner  of  conception  and  expres- 
sion decides  ao^ainst  this  view.     As  he  is  accus- 


160 

tomed  to  contemplcite  Christ  in  his  human  mani- 
festation,— the  incarnate  Word  ;  He  through  -whom 
man  is  reinstated  in  fellowship  with  God,  through 
whom  he  is  raised  again  to  the  filial  relation  to 
God,  and  becomes  the  cliild  of  God;  so  does  he 
contemplate  God,  as  the  etei'nal,  original  source 
of  the  new  life  imparted  through  Christ  to  the  ])e- 
liever.  It  is  in  this  view,  accordingly,  that  he 
speaks  of  a  birth  from  God,  in  contrast  with  the 
natural  corporeal  birth  by  v/hicli  one  becomes  a 
member  of  the  human  family ;  inasmuch  as  by  this 
he  is  lifted  out  of  the  customary  current  of  the 
world,  and  incorporated  with  the  kingdom  of  God, 
in  which  without  divine  life  there  can  be  no  pai- 
ticipation.  Thus,  by  the  Righteous,  we  are  to  un- 
derstand God.  Righteousness  is  here  synonymous 
with  perfect  purity,  with  holiness.  Accordingly, 
the  inference  is  here  made,  that  those  who  know 
God  as  the  Holy  One  must  also  know,  that  being 
through  the  kindred  life  imparted  by  him  born 
of  him  anew,  and  called  in  this  sense  his  children, 
they  must  make  themselves  manifest  as  such 
through  a  righteous  life-walk  in  harmony  with 
him.  Two  things,  an  affirmative  and  a  negative, 
are  implied  in  this  declaration.     Fii'st,  that  where 


161 

true  rigliteousness  exists,  it  can  have  been  derived 
only  from  this  source ;  tliat  true  rigliteousness  can 
only  be  attained  through  a  birth  from  God,  as  it 
is  only  through  the  power  of  God  that  the  ruling 
power  of  sin  can  be  overcome  in  man.  So  Christ 
asserts,  that  whatever  is  born  of  the  flesh  needs 
the  moral  transformation  effected  by  the  Spirit 
which  God  imparts.  "  That  which  is  born  of  the 
flesh,  is  flesh ;"  it  corresponds  to  its  origin,  to  sin- 
ful human  nature  as  estranged  from  God.  Sec- 
ondly it  is  implied,  that  he  only  who  leads  a  life 
n  harmony  wdth  righteousness  is  born  of  God ; 
only  by  this  sign  can  the  birth  from  God  make 
itself  known.  Where  the  opposite  is  found,  it 
furnishes  evidence  that  this  birth  from  God  has 
never  yet  taken  place ;  that  what  the  Holy  Spirit 
calls  the  Flesh,  comprehending  under  this  name 
whatever  both  in  the  sensual  and  intellectual  na- 
ture stands  opposed  to  the  divine  influence,  is  still 
predominant  in  him.  In  this  connection,  as  is 
shown  by  what  follows,  the  special  reference  is  to 
Ood.       , 

11 


CHAPTER    III. 

Feom  the  conviction  that  believers  are  born  of 
God,  and  thus  are  children  of  God,  the 

Ch.  iii.  1-3  ] 

Apostle  derives  the  motive  necessarily 
growing  out  of  it,  to  avoid  all  that  is  m nf ul.  This 
leads  him  to  speak  more  at  large  of  the  dignity  of 
the  children  of  God,  and  of  what  is  involved  in  it : 
"Behold  what  manner  of  love  the  Father  hath  be- 
stowed upon  us,  that  we  should  be  called  the  sons 
of  God;  therefore  the  world  knoweth  us  not, 
because  it  knew  him  not.  Beloved,  now  are  we 
the  sous  of  God,  and  it  doth  not  yet  appear  what 
we  shall  be  :  but  we  know  that,  when  he  [it]  shall 
appear,  we  shall  be  like  him  ;  for  we  shall  see  him 
as  he  is.  And  every  man  that  hath  this  hope  in 
him,  purifieth  himself,  even  as  he  is  pure." . 

There  can  be  no  more  intimate  and  endearing 
relation  than  that  of  children  to  their  Father, 
when  this  fully  answers  to  its  nature.     How  much 


163 

tben  must  it  imply,  when  creatures  separated  by 
au  infinite  chasm  from  their  Creator,  when  men 
estranged  by  sin  from  a  holy  God,  are  taken  into 
this  relation  to  Him.     How  great  the  love  he  has 
manifested,  by  coming  near  and  imparting  himself 
to  them,  in  order  to   close  this  chasm,  to  bring 
them  into  fellowship  with  himself !     No  higher 
evidence  could  be  given  of  the  love  of  God  towards 
his  apostate  creatures.     It  pre-supposes  the  father- 
heart  in  God,  towards  those  whom  he  adopts  as 
his  childi-en.     Far  more  is  designated  by  it,  in  the 
sense  of  the  Holy  Scriptures,  than  the  relation 
which  God  as  Creator  holds  to  his  creatures.   It  is 
only  in  a  more  general  sense  that  God  is  elsewhere 
called  the  Father  of  Spirits,  from  the  peculiar  ve- 
lation  of  spirits  as  such  to  the  supreme  spirit,  to 
Him  who  is  called,  absolutely,— The  Spirit ;  being 
in  their  nature  as  spirits  adapted  to  reflect  the 
image  of  the  eternal,  the  supreme  spirit,  and  there- 
fore akin  to  Him,  and  susceptible  of  a  fellowship 
of  life  with  Him.     It  is  oneness  of  race,  a  kindred 
nature,  that  unites  children  with  parents  ;  so  spirits 
as  such  enjoy  the  special  right,  over  all  the  rest  of 
creation,  of  standing  in  this  relation  to  God,  and 
hence  he  is  called  in  that  more  general  sense  their 


164 

Father.  But  the  race  of  man  had  through  sin 
fallen  from  this  relation  to  God  ;  had  forfeited  that 
claim  founded  in  their  original  nature,  created 
after  the  image  of  God ;  were  no  longer  partakers 
in  that  life  by  which  they  were  akin  to  the  holy 
God,  and  by  virtue  of  which  they  might  have 
been  worthy  to  be  called  his  children.  It  was 
therefore  necessary  that  He,  who  from  his  natui-e 
is  in  the  absolute  sense  Son  of  God,  and  who  alone 
is  such,  should  appear  in  their  flesh  and  blooil  ; 
that  he  should  impart  himself  wholly  to  them,  give 
his  life  for  them,  make  himself  entirely  their  own 
and  unite  them  as  one  with  himself ;  that  as  he  is 
the  Son  of  God,  so  they,  in  fellowship  with  him 
and  for  his  sake,  might  also  become  the  cliildren 
of  God. 

But  the  expression  is  here  peculiar ;  not,  they 
are  children  of  God, — but  shall  be  so  called.  It 
is  an  indication,  how  much  is  implied  in  the  right 
to  bear  this  name.  The  name  is  the  sign  of  the 
thing,  the  outward  expression  of  the  inward  real- 
ity. The  name  may  be  conferred  in  advance  ;  the 
right  to  bear  it  may  be  given,  before  that  which 
is  indicated  by  the  name  attains  its  complete  ful- 
filment and  reahzation.     The  sou,  destined  to  sue- 


165 

ceed  to  liis  father's  whole  property,  his  offices  and 
dignities,  receives  with  the  right  to  bear  the  name 
of  son,  the  certain  pledge  that  he  shall  one  day 
come  into  possession  of  all.  So  also  in  the  right 
of  believers  to  be  called  the  children  of  God,  there 
is  more  involved  than  in  what  they  now,  to  ap- 
pearance, actually  are.  It  is  their  title,  given  to 
them  of  God,  to  come  one  day  into  the  full  pos- 
session and  use  of  all  which  is  indicated  by  this 
name, — as  assumed  by  the  Apostle  in  what  im- 
mediately follows.  Since  the  outward  condition 
of  God's  children  does  not  here  correspond  to  the 
dignity  belonging  to  this  name,  to  the  glory  indi- 
cated thereby ;  the  Apostle  therefore  first  directs 
the  attention  of  believers  to  thi;^  incongruity,  that 
when  made  aware  of  it  by  various  painful  expe- 
riences, they  might  not  become  unsettled  in  regard 
to  what  is  thus  conferred  on  them,  but  rightly  un- 
derstand that  this  must  be  so, — that  it  could  not 
be  otherwise.  They  are  the  object  of  hatred  ^nd 
persecution  to  the  world ;  they  are  in  perpetual 
conflict  with  it.  Are  they  to  be  disquieted  on  this 
account  ?  No  !  This  is  nothing  less  than  one  of 
the  vouchers  for  the  great  right  bestowed  on  them 
by  the  father-love  of  God,  the  right  to  be  called 


166 

his  children.  It  is  one  of  the  requi]-ed  testimonials, 
that  they  are  truly  standing  in  this  relation  to  God. 
The  dignity  to  which  they  are  aj^pointed,  the  glory 
of  which  they  are  now  the  depositories,  is  one 
which  is  hidden  from  the  world.  The  world  is 
far  from  surmising  the  exalted  stand-point  in  the 
universe,  occupied  by  the  christian.  The  world 
understands  nothing  of  that  by  which  he  is  in- 
fluenced and  animated,  and  bestows  on  it  only 
hatred  and  contempt.  And  wherefore  ?  As  the 
feeling  with  which  v/e  regai*d  the  father  is  trans- 
ferred to  the  son,  who  follows  the  example  and  prin- 
ciples of  his  father;  as  hatred  to  the  tVitlier  is  thus 
transferred  to  the  son  ;  so  the  disposition  of  the 
world  towards  the  children  of  God,  is  the  same  as 
that  towards  God  himself.    As  the  world  estrano-ed 

o 

from  God  cannot  know  Him  ;  as  even  when  pro 
fessing  a  zeal  for  Him,  it  honors  only  that,  is 
zealous  only  for  that,  which  it  has  made  its  God, 
its  own  self-created  idols  ;  as  it  knows  nothing  of 
the  true  God,  beinsr  estrancred  from  him  in  the 
temper  of  the  heart ;  so  neither  can  it  recognize 
the  Father  in  his  children,  the  image  of  God  ir. 
those  who  bear  it.  It  misapprehends  the  divine, 
for  the  very  reason   that  it  is  divine.     This  tern- 


167 

pel",  wliicb  separates  it  from  God,  is  the  source 
filso  of  its  hostility  to  the  children  of  God.  When, 
therefore,  these  are  misnnderstood,  hated  and  per- 
secuted by  the  world,  they  must  not  be  perplexed 
and  cast  down  on  this  account ;  but,  pei'ceiving 
the  causes  whence  such  treatment  proceeds,  must 
feel  themselves  ennobled  by  it.  They  must  draw, 
from  this  encounter  with  the  world,  a  more  deep 
and  living  consciousness  of  that  endearing  and  in- 
timate relation  to  God,  which  places  them  in  this 
'position  towards  the  world. 

But  how  are  we  to  reconcile  with  this  the  prayer 
offered,  by  Christ  as  Higb  Priest  of  his  people 
(John  xvii,  22,  ff.),  that  the  glory  bestowed  by  the 
Father  upon  him  and  by  him  upon  believers, — a 
glory  consisting  in  the  oneness  of  believers  with 
him  as  he  is  one  with  the  Father, — may  reflect 
itself  in  their  life,  in  their  fellowship  with  one 
another ;  that  they  may  so  testify  of  Christ,  of  his 
divine  dignity  and  mission,  as  to  lead  the  world 
to  the  knowledge  of  him ;  that  the  manner  in 
which  God  reveals  himself  in  the  living  fellowship 
of  believers,  may  lead  the  world  to  percei\'e  how 
much  they  are  the  objects  of  divine  love?  How 
are  the  two  things  to  be  reconciled,  that  what  is 


168 

cause  of  misapprehension  and  persecution  to  the 
world,  should  at  tlie  same  time  be  the  means  l)y 
which  the  world  is  to  be  led  to  recognize  the  rev- 
elation of  God  in  his  children,  to  awaken  desii(- 
after  a  participation  in  it  ?  In  order  to  this,  -^ve 
must  distinguish  a  twofold  character  in  that  which 
is  called  the  world.  That  which  makes  it  such, 
the  source  of  its  hostility  to  God  and  his  kingdom, 
— this  must  be  distinguished  from  that  which 
forms  in  the  world  the  transition-point  to  the  king- 
dom of  God,  the  still  inherent  capacity  in  man  for 
receiving  the  divine  image,  the  after-working  of 
original  relationship  to  the  Divine.  In  virtue  of 
the  first,  he  is  only  repelled  by  the  Divine  in  be- 
lievers, and  cannot  recognize  in  it  the  Divine; 
while  through  the  second,  the  divine  glory,  as 
mirrored  in  the  fellowship  of  christians,  exerts  its 
attractive  force  to  draw  men  to  the  Father,  and 
to  the  Son  who  reveals  him, — the  point  of  con- 
nection Avhereby  the  Father  draws  them  to  the 
Son. 

It  is  only  in  tin;  first  point  of  view  that  the 
Apostle  here  speaks  of  the  world ;  and  his  words 
have  a  special  reference  to  the  then  existing  rela- 
tions of  Christians  to  the  world.     It  was  then  aa 


1G9 

Jewish  or  as  Heathen,  tliat  the  world  presented 
itself  in  opposition  to  Christianity  and  to  the  fel- 
lowship of  believers,  —  to  the  church  of  God, 
Something  wholly  new  had  made  its  appearance 
among  men,  standing  in  direct  contrariety  to  the 
spirit  by  which  the  w^oi-ld  was  governed,  to  its 
convictions,  its  principles,  its  morals,  its  tastes,  and 
to  the  organizations  and  ari-angements  of  life  ori- 
ginating therein.  It  must  therefore  be  misappre- 
hended, hated,  and  persecuted  by  the  world.  The 
recurrence  of  this  same  thing  is  still  witnessed  in 
heathen  countries,  where  Christianity  is  first  intro- 
duced by  missions.  But  it  is  otherw^ise  with  those 
nations  wdiich  have  already  long  borne  the  Chris- 
tian name ;  whose  whole  history  and  life,  developed 
under  the  influence  of  Christianity,  are  bound  up 
and  connected  therewith  in  an  unseen,  and  to 
many,  unconscious  manner;  nations  sustained  by 
Christianity  as  the  life-element  from  which  the 
national  development  and  culture,  the  form  of 
national  life,  originally  proceeded.  Christianity, 
when  first  appearing  among  a  people,  stands  dis- 
tinctly opposed  to  the  prevailing  opinions,  prin- 
ciples, manners,  and  social  arrangements,  Avhich 
had  sprung  from  the  I'oot  of  a  totally  different 


ITO 

religion.  But  this  is  not  so  with  nations  which 
have,  as  we  have  said,  long  home  the  Christian 
name.  Much  which  had  its  origin  in  Christianity, 
has  become  a  ])ai-t  of  the  common  national  life, 
entering  into  its  social  institutions,  customs,  and 
modes  of  thought.  Such  is  that  general,  \vorld- 
transforming  ])Ower  of  Christianity,  forever  at 
work  in  human  history,  as  seen  in  a  comparison 
of  nations  bearing  the  Christian  name  with  heathen 
countries  whether  savage  or  civilized,  especially 
as  represented  to  us  in  the  history  of  modern 
missions. 

Do  we  now,  in  countries  where  Christianity  has 
exerted  its  world-transforming  power,  find  stiJl 
existing  this  same  opposition  between  Christianity 
and  the  world,  and  consequently  an  application 
here  also  of  the  Apostle's  Avords  ?  Or  does  that 
spirit,  which  fills  and  animates  the  children  of 
God,  here  find  a  point  of  attachment  in  everything 
around  them,  thus  developed  from  the  all-trans- 
forming agencies  of  the  Gospel?  In  regard  to  this 
it  will  forever  remain  true,  that  no  one  can  become 
a  child  of  God  by  natural  l)irth,  or  in  general, 
through  anything  performed  externally,  upon  the 
body.     On   the  conti-ary,  this  is  a  w^ork  which 


171 

must  be  wrought  from  M'itbin,  through  personal 
faith,  and  the  operations  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  The 
saying  of  our  Lord :  "  Tluit  which  is  born  of  the 
flesh  is  flesh,  and  that  which  is  born  of  the  spirit 
is  spirit,"  declares  a  perpetual  contrariety  between 
the  regenerate  and  the  unregenerate ;  and  conse- 
quently, the  opposition  between  the  children  of 
God  and  the  children  of  the  world  is  one  which 
will  forever  continue.  It  matters  not  whether  the 
world  arrays  itself  in  open  hostility  against  Chris- 
tianity; or  whether  the  latter  has  so  far  extended 
its  all-transforming  power,  that  the  world  itself 
has  to  a  certain  degree  become  affected  by  its  in- 
fluence, in  many  respects  assimilated  to  it  under 
the  outward  form  of  Christian  culture,  and  now 
wages  against  it  a  more  covert,  unavowed,  in  part 
perhaps  unconscious  warfare.  Those  who  belong 
to  God  as  his  children,  in  whom  Christ  has  been 
truly  formed,  who  in  their  whole  life  and  being 
testify  of  him  and  reflect  his  image,  whom  he  has 
chosen  and  consecrated  through  the  Holy  Spirit 
as  his  instruments  in  representing  and  extending 
his  kingdom,  these  will  ever  feel  constrained  to 
maintain  a  conflict  with  all  which  is  of  the  world 
and  not  from  God,  in  order  that  they  may  nmke 


172 

it  subject  to  tlie  kingdom  of  God,  may  through 
the  sword  of  the  Spirit  subdue  it  to  the  obedience 
of  Christ.  Such  cannot  be  deceived  by  that  out- 
ward show  of  Christianity,  in  which  the  woi-ld, 
superficially  affected  by  its  all-transforming  influ- 
ence, has  veiled  its  own  true  character.  The}'  will 
therefore  have  to  contend  with  all  that  is  unchris- 
tian here,  not  less  than  among  a  people  never 
before  brought  in  contact  with  Christianity.  What 
then  obtained  when  these  words  were  written, 
when  even  externally  the  heathen  world  was  dis- 
tinguished from  Christians  dwelling  in  it,  must 
ever  continue  even  when  that  external  distinction 
has  been  done  away.  Hence  we  see  the  genuine 
children  of  God,  in  all  ages,  involved  in  conflict 
with  the  world.  In  proportion  as  the  Father  is 
not  recognized  in  his  love  and  holiness,  must  the 
children,  in  whom  that  love  and  holiness  are  re- 
vealed, be  misapprehended  also.  They  cannot 
V)ut  be  misunderstood.  Often  are  they  despised, 
or  hated  and  persecuted;  and  they  must  then  find 
their  consolation  in  the  words  here  spoken,  point- 
ing to  that  high  dignity  bestowed  on  them  by  the 
Father,  as  the  true  ground  of  this  antagonism  be- 
tween them  and  the  world. 


173 

This  relation  of  the  \\-orhl  to  the  children  of 
God  may  exhibit  itself  under  two  forms.  Those 
Avho  have  been  afi'ected  more  or  less  by  this  gen- 
era] influence,  diffused  among  a  Christian  people, 
may  be  clearly  conscious  of  the  source  of  that  su- 
periority by  which  they  are  distinguished  from  all 
who  belong  to  pagan  nations  ;  or  they  may  uncon- 
scionsly  imbibe  this  influence  as  an  element  once 
introduced  into  the  national  development,  without 
acknowledgiug  Christianit}^  as  its  source.  The 
foi-mer  are  indeed  deeply  penetrated  by  a  sense 
of  their  obligations  to  Christianity.  Though  far 
fi'om  recognizing  Christ  in  his  divine  dignity  and 
glory  as  the  Incarnate  Word,  they  yet  acknowd- 
edge  him  as  author  of  the  most  salutary  revolution 
in  liuman  society.  The}^  honor  and  ai'e  willing  to 
pi'omote  Christianity,  as  the  means  of  diffusing 
through  the  life  of  every  people  those  general 
moral  influences  which  they  have  themselves  felt. 
But  they  are  unable,  notwithstanding,  to  recognize 
and  comprehend  those  who  attach  so  much  impor- 
tance to  Christianity,  as  a  whole,  in  its  own  pecu- 
liar nature ;  who  claim  for  it  the  entire  life,  re- 
quiring that  everything  sliould  give  place  to  the 
holy  condemnatory  earnestness  of  t]i(^  Gospel,  that 


174 

everytliing  sliould  bow  before  it.  The  animating 
and  impelling  ])iiijciple  by  wliicli  sucli  are  gov- 
erned, remains  to  them  a  mystery ;  it  becomes  to 
them  a  stone  of  stumbling.  Hence  arises  an  op- 
position between  these  two  classes ;  an  opposition 
all  the  more  bitter  for  the  very  reason,  that  those 
who  are  conscious  of  that  general  influence  of 
Christianity  upon  the  formation  of  their  character, 
suppose  that  with  this  they  have  all  they  need ; 
resenting  it  as  a  heav}^  offence  if  more  is  required 
of  them,  if  they  are  not  regarded,  on  account  of 
what  they  already  have,  as  children  of  God. 
Those  who  confront  them  with  the  Gospel  in  all 
the  earnestness  of  its  demands,  are  accused  of  put- 
ting something  else  in  its  place,  of  making  the  way 
to  the  kingdom  of  God  too  narrow ;  just  as  the 
Jews,  having  received  so  much  that  was  akin  to 
Christianity  from  the  Law  and  the  Prophets,  and 
deeming  this  all-sufficient,  hated  him  in  whom  they 
were  fulfilled,  and  reproached  him  as  being  him- 
self an  enemy  to  the  Law  and  the  Prophets. 

If  now  we  turn  to  the  second  case,  this  too  we 
shall  find  may  assume  a  twofold  form.  It  may  1)0 
that  those  who  share  in  spiritual  blessings,  which 
the  people  to  whom  they  belong  have  attained 


175 

only  through  the  educating  influence  of  Christian- 
ity, do  indeed  acknowledge  this  agency ;  but  they 
suppose,  the  possession  once  secured,  the  nation 
needs  this  influence  no  longer.  Though  recog- 
nizing it  as  a  means  ordained  by  Providence  for 
bringing  humanity  up  to  this  stage  of  development, 
they  believe  that  Christianity  has  now  accom- 
plished its  work.  Its  highest  mission  was  to  make 
itself  superfluous, — by  cultivating  the  nations  to 
that  state  of  matuiity  and  self-dependence  which' 
they  have  now  attained.  This  is  one  case.  In 
the  other,  not  even  so  much  as  this  is  conceded  to 
Christianity.  It  is  not  recognized  as  the  source 
of  those  blessings,  which  through  its  world-trans- 
forming influence  have  become  the  property  of 
the  nations.  Their  connection  with  the  agency  of 
Christianity  is  regarded  merely  as  accidental ;  and 
a  release  from  its  restrictive  yoke  would,  in  the 
view  of  such,  be  followed  by  a  more  complete  and 
happy  national  development.  But  as  the  fruit  of 
a  tree  can  only  prosper  in  connection  with  the 
trunk  and  root,  and  with  the  fruit-producing  sap 
which  diffuses  itself  from  the  root  through  the 
trunk  and  all  its  branches ;  so  these  fruits  also 
will  soon  vanish,  if  connection  with  their  root, 


176 

wliich  is  Christianity,  is  no  longer  maintained  and 
kept  alive  in  the  national  consciousness.  Here  too 
"vvill  the  words  of  the  Lord  be  vei-ified  :  "  He  that 
hath  not,  from  him  shall  be  taken  that  which  he 
hath."  What  is  thus  torn  asunder  from  the  root 
of  Christianity,  having  become  thereby  something 
wholly  different,  having  been  deprived  of  its  true 
nature  and  significance,  will  run  more  and  more 
into  the  form  of  decided  opposition  to  Christianity. 
The  world,  not  being  led  up  from  that  general 
reformatory  influence  -  of  Christianity  to  its  true 
inward  nature,  will  throw  off  more  and  more  even 
its  outward  appearance,  and  the  concealed  hostility 
will  become  an  open  one, — a  result  which  we  see 
fast  preparing  in  our  own  day.  And  thus,  what 
is  here  taught  of  tte  warfare  between  the  children 
of  God  and  the  children  of  the  world,  and  should 
serve  as  a  ground  of  consolation  in  this  conflict, 
will  again  find  its  full  application  in  the  case  of 
each  individual,  so  soon  as  he  has  made  his  choice 
between  these  two  adverse  forces,  which  are  evei-}- 
day  coming  into  more  direct  conflict. 

While  thus  contemplating  the  children  of  God 
at  their  present  stnnd-point  of  conflict  with  the 
world,  the  Apostle  marks  the  distinction  between 


m 

the  present  and  tlie  future.  He  leads  their 
thoughts  to  that  still  concealed  and  undeveloped 
future,  which  they  bear  within  themselves.  We 
have  already,  he  says,  the  inward  assurance  of  that 
which  to  us  is  above  all  else,  of  which  no  one  can 
rob  OS,  that  we  are  the  children  of  God.  Herein 
is  contained  the  germ  of  all  which  is  to  be  devel- 
oped in  the  future,  in  eternal  life,  even  to  the 
completion  of  the  kingdom  of  God ;  but  the  whole 
extent  of  what  is  thus  bestowed,  the  fulness  of  the 
glory  of  the  children  of  God,  is  as  yet  veiled  even 
from  themselves,  much  more  from  the  world  which 
knows  them  not.  We  indeed  know  already,  would 
the  Apostle  say,  what  we  aee  ;  but  it  is  not  yet 
revealed  what  we  shall  be.  As  it  is  said  to  be  a 
revelation  of  Christ,  when  he  shall  show  himself 
openly  in  his  yet  hidden  glory ;  so  of  the  children 
of  God,  it  is  said  that  they  shall  be  revealed, 
when  their  glory,  now  veiled  and  hidden  from 
view,  shall  be  brought  forth  to  light.  Of  what  shall 
then  follow,  the  Apostle  says :  "  We  shall  be  like 
him,  for  we  shall  see  him  as  he  is." 

The  question  may  arise,  to  whom  is  the  pronoun 
here  to  be  referred,  to  Christ  or  to  God  ?  What 
the  Apostle  says  would  be  strictly  true,  and  might 

12 


178 

be  said  with  perfect  propriety,  in  either  case.  The 
two  stand  in  close  connection  also, — indeed  each 
is  necessarily  involved  in  the  other.  For  perfect 
likeness  to  God  is  inseparable  from  likeness  to 
Christ,  through  which  as  a  mediate  agency  it  is 
produced ;  so  also,  to  beliold  God  stands  in  close 
connection  with  beholding  Christ,  through  which 
in  like  manner  it  is  effected.  We  must  consider, 
however, — not  what  the  Apostle  might  in  any 
connection  have  said,  not  what  is  in  itself  a  truly 
apostolic  thought  and  in  the  spirit  of  John, — but 
what  in  this  particular  connection  was  present  to 
his  mind.  The  reference  to  God  being  here  the 
predominant  one,  what  is  comprehended  in  the 
idea  of  his  children  being  the  subject  of  consider- 
ation, it  is  manifestly  their  relation  to  God  which 
is  here  before  the  mind  of  the  Apostle.  To  Him, 
therefore,  the  pronoun  must  be  referred. 

As  the  image  of  the  father  is  presented  in  the 
son,  and  the  son  is  recognized  by  his  likeness  to 
the  father ;  so  the  Apostle  makes  the  full  revela- 
tion of  the  children  of  God,  as  such,  to  consist  in 
perfect  likeness  to  their  Father.  It  is  implied, 
therefore,  that  the  dignity  of  the  children  of  God 
is  still  imperfect  and  obscured,  because  their  like- 


1T9 

ness  to  God  is  not  complete, — because  they  do  not 
yet  perfectly  reflect  the  image  of  God  their  Father. 
This  likeness  to  God  as  their  Father,  must  indeed 
be  gradually  developed  in  their  entire  nature,  after 
the  model  image  of  Christ,  whereby  everything 
human  in  them  is  to  be  transformed  and  glorified 
into  a  revelation  of  the  divine  nature,  is  to  be 
made  divine.  All  that  has  its  origin  in  the  old 
man,  and  is  not  yet  wholly  overcome  and  rooted 
out,  stands  ever  opposed  to  this  assimilation  of 
believers  to  God.  The  perfected  glory  of  the 
children  of  God  is  therefore  identical  with  perfect 
Ukeness  to  God.  That  which  obscures  the  one, 
stands  opposed  also  to  the  complete  realization  of 
ihe  other.  In  that  one  thing  all  is  included.  Com- 
plete likeness  to  God  is,  moreover,  represented  by 
ihe  Apostle  as  the  consequence  of  our  seeing 
'he  Father  as  he  is.  We  have  here  a  promise, 
transcending  all  that  the  human  spirit  is  able  to 
conceive  or  hope ;  as  that  which  is  promised  an- 
swers to  the  profoundest  longings  of  the  spirit 
thirsting  and  fainting  after  God.  The  immediate, 
perfect  knowledge  of  God  as  he  is, — this  bewilders 
and  confounds  all  finite  conception.  It  seems 
irreconcilable  with  the  infinitude  of  the  divine 


180 

nature,  and  the  narrowness  of  finite  creatures. 
Under  the  old  dispensation,  it  had  been  said  that 
no  mortal  could  behold  God ;  the  vision  of  God  was 
regarded  as  something,  before  which  the  elements 
of  human  nature  must  dissolve  away.  But  now 
the  Eternal  Word, — He  who  was  with  God  and 
was  himself  God,  the  only  begotten  Son  who  is  in 
the  bosom  of  the  Father  and  has  alone  known  or 
could  know  him, — He  having  taken  upon  himself 
our  nature,  and  God  having  thereby  entered  into 
this  most  intimate  and  endearing  union  with  it ; 
the  chasm  is  now  closed,  which  divided  between 
God  and  the  created  spirit.  Like  Christ  himself, 
shall  they  who  stand  in  fellowship  with  him,  at- 
tain through  him  to  the  immediate  and  perfect 
vision  of  God,  to  Avhom  even  here  below  they  are 
united  in  faith  and  love. 

What  we  possess,  in  this  glorious  prospect,  we 
best  learn  from  contrast  with  two  opposite  errors 
of  human  opinion,  between  which  Christianity 
alone  shows  us  the  proper  medium.  The  one 
bearing  the  name  of  Deism,  is  seen  in  the  vain 
effort  to  reach,  through  the  idea  of  an  unknown 
and  far  off  God,  the  true  conception  of  that  feli- 
city, a  longing  after  which  is  so  deeply  implanted 


181 

in  tlie  spirit  of  man.     While  allowing  to  tlie  glo- 
rified soul  progressive  development  in  perfection, 
to   move   onward   from  world   to  world,  it   still 
leaves  it  forever  at  an  infinite  distance  from  God ; 
the  idea  of  such  a  perfect,  immediate  vision  of 
God  is  far  beyond  its  flight.     The  other  error  is 
that  of  Pantheism ;  which,  knowing  not  the  God 
who  is  at  once  near  and  afar  off,  the  God  every- 
where present  who  is  at  the  same  time  God  in 
Heaven,  mingles  God  and  the  universe  into  one 
(as  does  also  a  Mse  mysticism)  ;  annihilating  the 
personality  of  the    created   spirit,  it  resolves  it 
wholly  into  God,  thereby  destroying  likewise  the 
idea  of  the  living  God  himself,  who  is  not  a  God 
of  the  dead  but  of  the  living. 

On  the  contrary,  the  promise  of  the  Gospel  pre- 
sents to  us,  as  the  aim  of  the  created  spirit  ripening 
to  perfection,  an  immediate  and  perfect  intuition 
of  the  Divine  Being,  with  the  removal  of  all  those 
temporal  bounds  in  which  our  present  conscious 
ness  is  yet  confined.  It  will  be  a  k];iowledge  of 
God  no  longer  fragmentary,  no  longer  borrowed 
from  the  imperfect  mirror  and  the  broken  rays  of 
this  our  temporal  consciousness,  but  as  He  is  in 
himself,  in  his  essential  nature ;  a  knowing  of  God 


182 

so  immediate  that,  as  the  Apostle  Paul  says,  we 
shall  know  Him  as  we  are  known  of  llim,  as  He 
is  known  of  himself.  Still,  we  shall  remain  forever 
distinct  from  him,  in  a  glorified  personal  existence  ; 
otherwise,  it  would  not  be'  eternal  life,  but  mere  an- 
nihilation. What  John  here  certifies  is  this :  that 
in  the  perfect  intuition  of  God  lies  the  ground  of 
our  own  personal  perfection ;  that  as  personal  ex- 
istences, created  in  the  image  of  God,  we  ai-e  to 
become  perfectly  like  him.  The  two  are  placed  by 
John  in  the  closest  connection ;  the  pei'fect  intui- 
tion of  God  and,  as  proceeding  therefrom,  a  perfect 
transformation  into  his  image,  the  oneness  of  life 
between  the  beholder  and  the  beheld.  The  behold- 
ing of  God  must  react  upon  the  beholder,  transform- 
ing him  into  that  Avhich  is  the  object  of  contem- 
plation, assimilating  him  to  that  which  he  beholds, 
— and  the  perfect  perception  can  proceed  only 
from  affinity  of  life.  It  implies  the  removal  from 
the  life  as  from  the  perception,  of  all  which  might 
separate,  a  perfect  unity  between  the  two.  Life 
and  perception  are  here  entirely  one.  So  in  our 
Saviour's  words :  it  is  the  pure  in  heart  who  shall 
see  God ;  by  which  he  too  expresses  tlie  sum  of  all 
blessedness.     And  as  progress  in  the  knowledge 


183 

of  God,  proceeding  as  it  does  from  fellowship  of 
life  with  God,  is  dependent  upon  the  progressive 
purification  and  development  of  the  christian  life, 
the  life  of  likeness  to  God ;  so  at  the  last  consum- 
mating point,  are  perfect  intuition  of  God  and 
perfect  likeness  to  God  made  coincident  with  each 
other. 

Throughout  this  Epistle  promise,  and  exhorta- 
tion to  that  which  is  made  the  condition  of  the 
promise,  engrafting  themselves  one  upon  the  other, 
are  found  constantly  in  close  connection.  So  also 
here,  upon  this  highest  promise  follows  the  exhor- 
tation based  on  the  condition  of  its  fulfilment. 
The  present  and  future,  the  beginning  and  end, 
are  united  by  an  indissoluble  bond.  All  which 
is  to  be  perfected  in  eternal  life  must  already 
be  possessed  here  in  the  germ ;  and  by  an  ever- 
progressive  development  out  of  the  germ,  must  it 
attain  to  that  final  limit  of  complete  maturity. 
Since  now  perfect  likeness  to  God  consists  in  per- 
fect holiness,  it  is  through  progressive  sanctification 
in  this  life  the  way  must  be  prepared  for  that  final 
consummation,  the  unobstructed  vision  of  God  in 
perfect  likeness  to  him.  Hence  John  says :  that 
he  who  has  this  hope  towards  Him,  the  Fathei', — 


184 

the  hope  that  through  Christ's  promised  grace, 
he  shall  attain  to  that  glory  of  the  children  of 
God,  which  consists  in  perfect  likeness  to  the 
Father  and  in  the  perfect  vision  of  Him  as  He  is, 
— he  will  be  impelled  by  such  a  hope  to  become 
holy  as  Christ  is  holy,  after  the  model  image  of 
Christ  which  is  ever  before  his  eye.  He  will 
purify  himself,  more  and  more,  from  all  that  ob- 
scures the  reflection  of  that  holy  image ;  that  when 
made  like  to  him  who  is  the  perfect  likeness  of 
the  Father,  he  may  attain  in  him,  through  him, 
and  with  him,  to  the  vision  of  the  Father  as  he  is. 
This  exhortation  is  continued  in  the  following 
words.       "Whosoever    committeth    sin 

CLm.4-7.]  „         .      .       , 

trans o^resseth  also  the  law :  for  sm  is  the 
transgression  of  the  law.  And  ye  know  that  he 
was  manifested  to  take  away  our  sins ;  and  in  him 
is  no  sin.  Whosoever  abideth  in  him  sinneth  not : 
whosoever  sinneth,  hath  not  seen  him,  neithe]' 
known  him.  Little  children,  let  no  man  deceive 
you :  he  that  doeth  righteousness  is  righteous,  even 
as  he  is  righteous." 

It  is  obvious  from  the  Apostle's  mode  of  ex- 
pression, when  ui'ging  upon  Christians  this  earnest 
striving  for  holiness,  this  shunning  of  all  that  is 


185 

sinful, — that  lie  must  have  had  cause  for  it  in  the 
adverse  influence  which  some  were  exerting,  and 
from  which  there  was  reason  to  apprehend  a  dim- 
inution of  moral  earnestness,  a  laxity  of  moral 
judgment  in  the  church.  The  Apostle  is  warning 
his  brethren  against  certain  seducers.  These  were 
the  promoters  of  that  externalized  and  formal 
Christianity,  of  which  we  have  spoken  in  the  In- 
troduction. Already,  at  this  early  period,  had 
such  appeared  in  the  churches.  Unable  to  com- 
prehend the  full  extent  of  what  was  included  in 
separation  from  heathenism,  they  taught  that  no 
more  was  required,  than  the  abandonment  of  idol 
worship  with  all  that  pertained  to  it,  and  a  pro- 
fession of  faith  in  one  God  and  in  Jesus  as  the 
Messiah;  without  recognizing  that  the  Christian 
life  as  a  whole,  in  its  entire  consecration  to  God, 
belongs  to  this  separation  from  heathenism.  From 
the  Jews,  chiefly,  proceeded  these  superficial  and 
outward  tendencies  in  religion,  which  rested  in  a 
mere  external  faith,  external  profession,  and  ex- 
ternal fulfilment  of  the  law.  These  are  the  vain 
words  against  which  Paul  warns  his  Ephesian 
brethren  (Eph.  v.  6),  when  declaring  that  the 
wrath  of  God  comes  upon  the  children  of  disobe- 


186 

diencp,  not  mei'ely  on  account  of  idolatry,  but  also 
of  all  the  sins  connected  with  it.  Hei'c  now  the 
Ai)Ostle  asserts  with  special  emphasis,  that  all  sin 
Avhatever  is  unrighteousness  (as  Luther  translates 
it),  or  as  it  should  be  in  accordance  with  the 
(rreek  original,  contrariety  to  law,  transgression 
of  the  di\^ne  law.  We  might  naturally  infer  from 
this,  that  the  Apostle  was  dealing  with  such  as 
did  not  comprehend  the  idea  of  the  divine  law  in 
its  whole  dignity  and  majesty,  as  embracing  all 
which  is  I'equisite  to  the  full  realization  of  the 
divine  will,  as  being  the  full  revelation  of  God's 
holiness  in  the  mirror  of  its  demands  on  man;  such 
as  explained  the  commands  of  God  in  a  gross  and 
merely  external  manner,  which  rendered  it  easy 
to  satisfy  their  demands  without  coming  thereby 
any  nearer  to  the  true  nature  of  holy  living.  Such 
a  conception  of  the  Law  is  condemned  by  Christ 
in  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount.  It  was  from  the 
stand-point  of  such  a  superficial  conception  of  the 
Law, that  the  rich  young  man  in  the  Gospel  (Matt, 
xix.  17,  ff.)  could  suppose  that  from  his  youth  he 
had  fulfilled  all  its  requirements;  a  conception 
which  has  often  been  reproduced  in  the  church, 
and  with  the  uniform  effect  of  making  obedience 


187 

to  tlie  Law  easy,  of  lowering  the  requiremeuts  of 
Christianity  to  each  one's  life,  and  thus  enabling 
him  the  more  readily  to  appease  his  conscience. 
In  christian  self-examination  and  self-knowledge, 
all  depends  upon  a  right  understanding  and  cleai- 
view  of  the  nature  of  the  Law,  which  must  ])e 
ever  present  before  the  eye  of  the  believer,  as  the 
mirror  in  which  to  contemplate  himself  and  his 
life.  The  careful  daily  study  of  that  holy  inter- 
pretation of  the  Law,  contained  in  our  Lord's  Ser- 
mon on  the  Mount,  will  above  all  else  aid  us  in 
this  duty. 

Such,  then,  had  made  their  appearance  in  John's 
sj)here  of  labor,  as  thus  externalized  and  degraded 
the  conception  of  the  divine  Law ;  lowering  the 
standard  of  moral  judgment,  and  recognizing  only 
in  various  outbreaking  sins  transgressions  of  that 
law.  It  was  necessary,  -therefore,  that  John  should 
oppose  their  influence  by  holding  up  sin  in  its 
character  as  sin, — all  sin  as  equally  transgression 
of  the  divine  Law.  In  judging  of  the  moral  char- 
acter of  men,  regard  should  indeed  be  had  to 
differences  of  gradation  in  moral  development ;  and 
of  this  the  Apostle  himself  will  by  and  by  give 
us  occasion  to  speak.     Yet  is  it  of  the  greatest  im- 


188 

portance  to  a  right  view  of  the  true  nature  of 
sanctiflcation,  and  for  that  strict  self-examination 
which  is  the  condition  of  all  progress  therein,  that 
we  first  understand  the  equal  dignity  of  the  divine 
Law  in  all  its  commands ;  that  the  obedience  it 
i-equires  is  absolute,  and  embraces  the  whole  life. 
There  is  here  no  distinction  between  great  and 
small;  all  sin,  as  proceeding  from  the  same  foun- 
tain the  depraved  creature- will,  that  which  the 
Scriptures  call  the  flesh  in  opposition  to  the  spirit, 
as  violation  of  the  divine  will,  transgression  of  the 
divine  law,  is  on  the  same  level.  This  is  the  precise 
point  of  view  established  by  John  in  these  Avords. 
He  then  proceeds  to  show,  how  ii-reconcilable 
is  the  tendency  here  rebuked  with  the  natui-e  of 
faith  in  Jesus,  as  the  Lord  and  Saviour;  tliat  this 
faith  cannot  maintain  itself  without  the  earnest 
striving  for  sanctiflcation,  without  the  shunning 
of  all  sin ;  what  a  contradiction  in  the  very  nature 
of  things  it  would  be,  to  desire  still  to  remain  in 
the  service  of  any  sin,  w^hile  professing  adherence 
to  Jesus  as  the  Saviour.  He  takes  for  his  starting- 
point:  Jesus  has  appeared  to  take  away  our  sins. 
It  is  here  represented  as  the  highest  aim  of  the 
appearing  of  Christ,  to  take  away  all  sin  from  hu- 


189 

manity,  and  (the  same  idea  under  the  positive 
form)  to  found  a  kingdom  of  holiness  in  man. 
This  thought  is,  in  itself,  a  sufticient  demonstration, 
that  its  origin  is  not  of  earth  but  of  Heaven,  the 
demonstration  of  its  own  divinity.  It  is  a  thought 
which  could  never  have  arisen  in  the  sin-polluted 
mind  of  man.  He  who  could  conceive  it,  would 
thereby  already  have  demonstrated  his  super- 
human greatness.  To  be  able  to  express  such  a 
thought,  in  the  midst  of  a  sinful  race,  involves  the 
consciousness  not  only  of  its  superhuman  origin, 
but  also  of  superhuman  powers  to  achieve  its  real- 
ization. It  marks  a  new  era  in  history;  that 
henceforth,  for  those  who  appropriate  to  them- 
selves the  work  of  Christ  and  enter  into  fellowship 
witli  him,  Evil  and  Sin  are  as  if  they  were  not,  as 
if  wholly  and  forever  taken  away.  Not  only 
shall  sin  no  longer  have  dominion  over  them,  but 
former  sin  shall  be  as  if  it  had  not  been,  as  if  an- 
nihilated. In  regard  to  the  expression,  "  to  take 
away  our  sins,"  a  comparison  with  the  original 
Greek,  and  with  John's  language  elsewhere,  leads 
us  to  refer  the  conce[)tioii  underlying  it  to  Christ. 
It  is  He,  who  by  entering  into  fellowship  with 
man's  sinful  nature,  and   thus  acquiring  a  living 


190 

sympathy  witli  all  the  misery  brought  upon  it  by 
sin,  became  conscious  in  his  sufferings  of  a  connec- 
tion with  the  sin  of  humanity.  Through  his  fel- 
lowship with  that  nature  which  he  had  adopted, 
he  bore  the  guilt  by  which  humanity  was  bur- 
dened, and  felt  it  as  his  own ;  as  indicated  by  those 
words  upon  the  cross :  "  My  God,  my  God,  why 
hast  thou  forsaken  me !"  It  was  thus  that  he  took 
upon  himself  and  bore  the  sins  of  men,  and  there- 
fore he  is  said  to  have  taken  away  our  sins.  So 
the  sin  of  the  people  was,  in  a  symbolical  and  typ- 
ical manner,  laid  as  it  were  upon  the  sacrificial 
victim  to  be  borne  and  expiated  by  it.  But  in 
order  that  Christ  might  thus  take  away  the  sins 
of  man,  it  was  requisite,  as  the  Apostle  subse- 
quently indicates,  that  in  himself  there  should  be 
no  sin.  He  must  be  the  Sinless,  the  Holy  One,  in 
order  as  such  to  suffer  for  the  sins  in  which  he 
had  himself  no  share ;  to  take  them  away,  and  set 
over  against  them  a  life  of  perfect  holiness  answer- 
ing to  the  divine  law  ;  to  be  able,  in  the  fulfihiient 
of  that  law,  to  do  for  all  and  in  place  of  all,  what 
all  mankind  should  have  done  each  for  himself 

Since  then  it  is  as  the  Holy  One  that  Jesus  has 
taken  away  the  sins  of  men,  the  Apostle  infers 


191 

that  none  can  stand  in  fellowship  with  him,  who 
perseveres  henceforward  in  the  way  of  sin.  He 
declares,  in  the  most  absolute  manner,  that  he 
who  abides  in  fellowship  with  him  sinneth  not. 
To  sin,  and  to  abide  in  fellawship  with  the  Holy 
One,  who  appeared  for  the  very  purpose  of  taking 
away  sin,  are  things  irreconcilable.  To  belong 
to  him,  is  to  be  separated  from  all  sin.  The  life 
which  exists  in  fellowship  with  him  excludes  all 
sin.  This  assertion  is  subsequently  repeated  by 
the  Apostle,  in  order  to  enforce  it  with  the  strong- 
est emphasis,  in  the  negative  form  :  "  Whosoever 
sinneth  hath  not  seen  Him,  neither  known  Him." 
This  seeing  indicates,  as  we  have  before  noticed, 
not  bodily  sight  which  cannot  here  be  meant,  but 
inward  vision,  a  seeing  with  the  eye  of  the  spirit. 
From  the  distinction  here  made  between  seeing 
and  knowing,  it  is  evident  that  something  more  is 
meant  by  seeing  Christ  than  by  knowing  him  ;  as 
indeed  elsewhere  John  is  accustomed  to  represent 
by  sight  a  higher  stage  of  knowledge,  that  imme- 
diate spiritual  perception  which  rises  above  medi- 
ate knowledge.  If  through  the  preaching  of  tlie 
Gospel  the  knowledge  of  Christ  has  been  attained, 
there  will  follow  that  higher  spiritual  intuition  of 


192 

Him,  as  manifested  in  liis  divine-human  life,  as 
He  was  and  is.  Such  a  living  image  of  Christ, 
enchaining  the  soul,  must  be  ever  present  to  the 
spiritual  gaze  of  the  believer.  But  this  can  only 
be  the  case  with  him,  whose  life-walk  is  in  har- 
mony with  this  holy  model.  He  wdio  continues  in 
sin,  though  he  may  outwardly  have  confessed 
Christ,  can  never  truly  have  beheld  this  image ; 
nay,  he  is  still  far  even  from  knowing  him  as  the 
Holy  One  who  appeared  to  take  away  the  sins  of 
man.  Such  an  one,  in  place  of  the  true  and  living 
Christ,  has  devised  for  himself  another  and  fic- 
titious one. 

Accordingly,  John  adds  a  protest  against  the 
vain  words  of  those  who  lower  the  demands  of  the 
Gospel  upon  the  christian  life,  representing  a  mere 
outward  profession  as  that  whereby  christians  are 
separated  from  the  sinful  heathen  world,  and  en- 
titled to  contrast  themselves  as  righteous  wdth  the 
sinners  of  Heathenism.  He  asserts,  on  the  con- 
trary, that  it  is  only  through  the  practice  of  right- 
eousness, through  a  life-walk  conformed  thereto, 
that  one  can  prove  himself  a  righteous  man.  This, 
however,  by  no  means  harmonizes  with  the  doc- 
trine, that  only  through  the  fulfilment  of  righteous- 


193 

?jess,  only  throngli  a  course  of  action,  one  can  be* 
come  riirliteous.  In  all  tliat  is  liere  said,  tliere  is 
presupposed  that  rigliteousness  whicli  has  its  root 
in  fellowship  with  Christ,  the  new  life  proceeding 
from  him  and  formed  after  his  holy  image.  What 
he  would  enforce . is  this:  that  this  inward  right- 
eousness,— originating  in  fellowship  with  Christ, 
and  distinguishing  the  new  stand-point  of  life  from 
the  former  one, — can  not  be  present  without  reveal- 
ing itself  in  the  outward  life ;  that  as  the  image  of 
Christ  the  Eighteous,  the  Holy,  is  transferred  to  the 
inner  life  of  the  believer,  no  one  can  stand  in  fel- 
lowship with  him  without  showing  himself,  in  his 
life-walk,  to  be  righteous  even  as  Christ  is  righteous. 
It  may  appear  strange,  that  the  Apostle  should, 
so  absolutely  and  unconditionally  exclude  all  sin 
from  the  christian  life ;  should  seem  to  assert  that 
it  must  correspond,  in  entire  and  unspotted  right- 
eousness, to  the  holy  image  of  Christ.  And  yet, 
in  what  precedes  he  has  given  his  readers  to  un- 
derstand, that  the  christian  life  is  one  which  still 
needs  a  purifying  process.  But  it  was  here  the 
iVpostle's  first  object,  in  opposition  to  that  laxness 
of  moral  views,  that  compromise  with  sin,  to  bring 

before  the  mind  the  full  scope  of  what  is  involved 
13 


194 

in  tlie  essential  nature  and  idea  of  Sin  and  of  Kiglifr 
eousness;  to  exhibit,  in  its  whole  strictness  and 
majesty,  the  claim  npon  the  christian  life  arising 
from  fellov/ship  with  Christ,  from  faith  in  him  as 
the  Redeemer.  This  is  the  same  point  of  view 
which  Christ  takes  in  the  Sennon  on  the  Mount. 
The  christian  life,  as  such,  in  its  essential  nature 
and  idea  as  a  life  of  righteousness  after  the  image 
of  Christ,  is  in  itself  the  opposite  to  all  sin ;  and  in 
this  view,  no  difference  of  moral  gradation  can  be 
made,  although  in  the  actual  life  such  gradation." 
are  found  to  exist.  It  was  the  first  object  to  bring 
out  clearly,  in  the  full  import  and  extent  of  thei; 
contrariety,  the  stand-point  of  the  old  and  that  oi 
the  nev^  man.  From  such  a  view  it  will  always 
follow,  that  the  determining  tendency  of  the  chris- 
tian life,  of  the  will  in  the  christian,  can  be  no 
other  than  holy  and  averse  to  sin ;  that  only  the 
after-workings  of  the  former  relation  of  sin,  of  the 
old  man,  oppose  themselves  to  what  is  now  his 
determining  and  controlling  tendency. 

It  was  here  then  the  Apostle's  object  to  draw 
the  separatins;  line  between  these  two  rad- 

Oh.  iii  8.]  .  -^  . 

ical  tendencies,  in  reference  to  holiness  and 
sin,  in  its  full  breadth  and  force.     Hence  the  uu- 


195 

conditional  contrast  in  which  he  presents  those 
who  abide  in  fellowship  with  Christ,  those  who 
are  born  of  God,  the  children  of  God, — and  those 
M^ho  are  of  the  devil,  who  make  themselves 
known  by  their  lives  as  children  of  the  devil. 
What  then  does  he  understand  by  the  devil  ? 
He  designates  hira  as  the  one  who  sinneth  "  from 
the  beginning."  If  we  take  the  expression, ''  from 
the  beginning,"  in  an  absolute  and  unlimited 
sense,  and  follow  it  out  to  its  necessary  results, 
we  must  understand  by  Satan  a  spirit  in  his  origin 
and  essence  the  opposite  to  the  holy  God,  evil  in 
his  very  nature,  in  his  whole  being  and  essence 
the  representative  of  evil ;  and  consequently  two 
original  Principles  of  Being,  a  good  and  an  evil, 
must  be  admitted.  But  from  a  comparison  with 
the  Apostle's  whole  mode  of  conception,  and  with 
his  ideas  of  the  creation,  it  is  clear  that  such  a 
view  is  wholly  foreign  to  him  ;  for  he  derives  all 
existence  simply  from  God  and  his  Word,  and 
consequently  can  recognize  no  Being  co-existent 
with  God.  Since,  moreover,  he  regards  God  as 
absolutely  Light,  to  whom  all  darkness  is  alien, — 
as  the  Holy  One  from  whom  nothing  evil  can 
proceed. — he  must,  while  recognising  God  as  sole 


196 

creator  of  all  existing  things,  assume  that  all 
things  as  tliey  proceeded  from  Ilim  were  created 
good.  He  cannot,  therefore,  admit  that  an  ori- 
ginally evil  spirit  was,  as  such,  created  by  God. 
And  farther  still,  the  Johannic  conception  of  siu 
is  inconsistent  with  such  an  idea  of  a  sinner  from 
the  beginning,  of  a  being  originally  evil.  For 
the  idea  of  sin  implies  transgression  of  the  divine 
law,  by  a  spirit  created  to  fulfil  the  la^^-,  one  in 
whose  consciousness  the  divine  law  was  present  as 
a  law  for  himself  It  is  rebellion  of  the  creature- 
will  against  the  divine  will  to  which  it  should  be 
subject.  All  this  is  comprehended  by  John  in 
the  idea  of  sin  when  predicated  of  man.  In  all 
this  there  is  implied  a  spirit  created  by  God  ori- 
ginally good,  who  through  the  misuse  of  his  own 
free  will  rebelled  against  the  divine  will.  And 
thus  also  the  supposition  of  an  originally  evil 
Principle  is  seen  to  be  inadmissible.  We  must  ac- 
cordingly understand  by  the  expression,  "  sinneth 
from  the  beginning,"  not  that  the  devil  sins  on 
evermore  from  the  beginning  of  his  existence  as  a 
spirit,  but  from  the  time  when,  through  the  apos- 
tacy  of  his  will  from  God,  he  became  what  he  is, 
the  Devil;   sinnifg,  through  the  steady  persist- 


197 

ence  of  his  will  in  a  course  at  variance  with  Lis 
orif^inal  nature,  a  variance  involved  in  the  idea 
of  sin,  having  become  his  second  nature,  his  ele- 
ment of  life.     The  expression,  "  from  the  begin- 
ning," is  justified  moreover  on  this  ground :  that 
the  origin   of   all   sin   is   from   the  devil;   that 
through  him  sin  first  entered  the  universe,  and 
the  first  beginning  of  sin  in  the  human  race  also 
was  brought  about  by  his  intervention.     Hence 
all  sin  is  an  imitation  of  Satan,  a  reflection  of  his 
image,  the  work  of  the  same  spirit,  of  that  selfish 
tendency  in  the  creature  by  which  it  renounced 
its  natural  dependence  on  God,  made  itself  law, 
end,  centre  to  itself,  instead  of  referring  as  its  des- 
tiny required  the  whole  life  to  God  alone,  and 
making  hirn  its  law,  end  and  centre.     This  ten- 
dency having  first  proceeded  from  the  Devil,  he 
is  consequently  regarded   as   its   representative; 
all  which  is  done  from  this  disposition  is  referred 
back  to  him,  and  viewed  as  the  work  of  the  spirit 
which  shows  itself  operative  in  him,  which  first 
came  into  being  in  him.     But  it  is  characteristic 
of  John  to  seek  only  the  pi'actical- religious  point 
of  view,  to  apprehend  everything  in  its  bearing 
on  the  christian  life,  its  influence  upon  sanctifica- 


198 

tion, — and  to  refrain  from  questions  relating 
merely  to  matters  of  knowledge  without  practical 
importance.  He  therefore  pursues  no  farther  the 
inquiry,  what  the  devil  originally  was  in  relation 
to  the  rest  of  the  spirit-world.  He  only  exhibits 
what  is  here  of  practical  weight,  viz.  the  connec- 
tion of  all  sin  with  him  from  whom  sin  first  pro- 
ceeded,— with  that  sinning  of  the  devil  from  the 
beginning.  It  is  no  mere  matter  of  speculation, 
it  is  something  practically  important, — important 
in  respect  to  the  consciousness  of  sin, — that  we  go 
beyond  its  present  manifestation  in  man,  and  be- 
hold in  Satan  its  essential  nature.  Thus  while 
viewing  sin  as  the  act  of  a  s])ii-it  gifted  with  higher 
powers,  created  originally  good,  we  shall  become 
more  clearly  aware  of  its  true  nature,  as  a  revolt 
of  the  creature-will  against  the  supreme  will  of 
God  which  all  should  obey,  as  a  voluntary  trans- 
gression of  the  holy  law  given  by  God  to  all  ra- 
tional beings.  Learning  thus  to  understand  Evil 
in  its  whole  fathomless  depth,  as  guilty  estrange- 
ment from  God,  we  shall  thereby  be  guarded 
against  the  error,  so  prejudicial  to  moral  earnest- 
ness, of  regarding  evil  as  merely  an  infirmity,  an 
overpowering  of  the  Rational  by  the  Sensual ; — 


199 

ns  nothing  more  than  a  product  of  the  sensual 
nature  in  man. 

With  this  aim, — to  show  the  incompatibility  of 
nil  sin  with  the  christian  life,  and  arouse  the  chris- 
tian to  the  conscious  necessity  of  avoiding  all  con- 
tact with  sin,  as  something  diametrically  opposed 
to  the  position  of  the  child  of  God,  to  the  life 
which  is  in  him, — John  refers  every  sin,  without 
distinction  between  great  and  small,  to  the  same 
origin,  the  one  radical  tendency  expressed  in  all 
sins,  to  the  devil  who  sinneth  from  the  beginning. 
By  sinning,  one  puts  himself  on  an  equality  with 
the  devil,  shows  himself  to  be  one  of  his  adherents, 
to  be  governed  by  his  spirit.  That  which  consti- 
tutes the  characteristic  of  the  devil  is  the  operative 
principle  in  all  sin,  viz.  this  same  radical  tendency 
of  self-will  in  the  creature  resisting  the  holy  ordi- 
nance of  God.  Since  now  the  Apostle  derives  all 
sin  from  the  devil,  and  in  all  sin  recognizes  the 
kingdom  of  the  devil ;  as  in  all  the  evil  which 
reigned  in  the  human  race  until  Christ's  appear- 
ing he  sees  the  influence  of  that  kingdom,  the  pro- 
gressive working  of  the  disorder  introduced  by 
the  devil  into  the  world  ;  he  therefore  says,  that 
the  Son  of  God  has  appeared  to  undo,  to  destroy, 


200 

the  works  of  the  devil.  The  expressions,  "  to 
take  away  the  sins  of  men,"  and  "  to  destroy  the 
M^orks  of  the  devil,"  are  employed  by  John  Avith 
the  same  general  import.  After  having  exhibited 
sin  in  connection  with  the  devil,  these  exj^ressions 
could  now  be  interchanged.  As  he  here  contem- 
plates evil,  not  merely  as  manifested  on  earth,  but 
in  its  more  general  connection  with  the  develop- 
ment-history of  the  universe,  of  which  indeed  reve- 
lation unveils  only  such  a  fragment  as  is  demand- 
ed for  our  practical  religious  necessities ;  so  also 
does  his  designation  of  Christ's  work  of  redemption, 
include  that  more  general  reference  to  the  history 
of  the  universe,  and  of  the  kingdom  of  God  in  its 
widest  sense.  It  is  here  represented  as  the  highest 
aim  of  the  ajDpearing  of  Christ,  to  destro}^  all  which 
is  the  work  of  Satan,  all  evil, — the  triumphant 
establishment  of  the  kingdom  of  God  on  the  ruins 
of  Satan's  kingdom.-  Since  then  Christ  appeared 
to  do  away  all  sin  as  tlie  woi-k  of  the  devil ;  it 
clearly  follows,  that  only  he  who  renounces  all  sin 
as  the  work  of  the  devil  can  share  in  the  work  of 
Christ,  can  receive  in  himself  the  fulfilment  of  the 
purpose  for  which  Christ  appeared. 

Whilst  he  thus  sliows  the  total  contrariety  be- 


201 
tween  the  children  of  God  and  the  chil- 

[Ch.  di.  a 

dren  of  the  devil,  betu'een  him  that  doeth 
righteousness  and  him  that  sinneth,  the  Apostle 
says :  "  Whosoever  is  born  of  God  doth  not  com- 
mit sin ;  for  his  seed  remaineth  in  him ;  and  he 
cannot  sin,  because  he  is  born  of  God."  John 
here  first  certifies  a  matter  of  fact;  he  states  a 
practical  proposition,  viz.  that  he  who  is  born  of 
God, — as  being  born  of  God, — sinneth  not.  The 
aground  of  this  is  stated  in  the  declaration  which 
follows,  that  in  such  the  seed  of  God  remainetli. 
The  figure  of  seed,  so  often  employed  in  the  Scrip- 
tures, is  usually  taken  from  husbandry.  Thus  in 
the  parables  of  our  Lord,  the  word  of  God  is  com- 
pared to  the  seed,  the  soul  to  the  ground  in  whicli 
the  seed  is  scattered,  the  difference  of  susceptibil- 
ity for  receiving  the  word  of  God  to  varieties  of 
soil.  But  this,  obviously,  is  not  the  allusion  here. 
It  is  not  men  represented  as  recipients  of  the  seed, 
and  deporting  themselves  variously  in  respect  to 
its  reception ;  it  is  the  believer  begotten  from  the 
seed.  The  allusion  is  manifestly  to  the  seed  in 
human  generation,  as  in  John  i.  13.  The  seed  of 
God  is  the  divine  life  derived  from  God  and  im- 
parted through  Christ,  from  which  proceeds  th  b 


202 

new  l)ii'th,  regeneration,  and  which  constitutes 
those  to  whom  it  is  imparted  children  of  God. 
Having  by  the  reception  of  this  divine  life  been 
born  of  God  and  become  children  of  God,  so 
long  as  the  divine  seed,  the  new  divine  life  abides 
and  continues  operative  in  them  penetrating  their 
whole  nature,  they  cannot  but  remain  children  of 
God  and  manifest  themselves  as  such.  Since  now 
this  seed  from  God  stands  as  the  exact  opposite  of 
the  life  which  is  kindred  to  that  of  the  devil,  to 
all  which  is  sin  ;  it  is  obvious  that  the  children  of 
God  sin  not,  since  this  new  life,  the  very  thing 
which  constitutes  them  children  of  God,  excludes 
from  itself  all  sin.  Having  stated  this  practical 
proposition,  he  proceeds  to  prove  that  it  must  of 
necessity  be  so,  that  it  cannot  be  otherwise.  Such 
an  one  cannot  sin.  It  is  in  the  nature  of  the  case 
impossible  that  he  should  sin,  because  he  is  born 
of  God  ;  because  this  being  born  of  God  stands  in 
direct  contradiction  with  sin.  Sin  cannot  proceed 
from  it,  can  find  no  point  of  connection  in  it.  As 
nothing  Undivine,  but  only  what  is  Divine,  can 
proceed  fi-om  the  divine  life,  so  from  those  who 
are  born  of  God,  as  such,  there  can  proceed  no 
sin. 


203 

John  now  places  these  two  classes  of  men  in 
contrast  with  each  other :  "  Herein  is  man- 

1  1  M  [Ch.  iii,  10. 

ifest  who  are  the  children  of  God  and  who 
are  the  children  of  the  devil."  Thus  he  divides 
the  whole  human  race  between  these  two  diamet- 
rically  opposite  classes,  the  children  of  God  and 
the  children  of  the  devil.  But  is  there,  then,  only 
this  one  distinction  among  men  ?  Is  there  nothing 
intermediate,  are  there  no  points  of  transition,  be- 
tween the  two  classes  ?  If  so,  it  would  be  impos- 
sible to  explain,  how  children  of  God  could  be 
formed  from  children  of  the  devil,  how  a  transition 
from  the  one  class  to  the  other  could  be  effected. 
And  yet  John  assumes  such  a  possibility  in  the 
recognition  of  the  fact,  that  such  as  served  sin 
and  belonged  to  the  kingdom  of  Satan,  to  the 
kingdom  of  the  world,  have  through  faith  in  Jesus 
as  the  Saviour  withdrawn  therefrom,  and  have  be- 
come children  of  God.  By  saying  that  the  Son 
of  God  has  ap23eared  to  destroy  the  works  of  the 
devil,  he  says  virtually,  that  he  appeared  in  order 
to  make  those  children  of  God  who  hitherto  were 
children  of  the  devil.  There  must  then  exist  a 
point  of  attachment,  whereby  those  who  are  as 
yet  children  of  the  devil  become  susceptible  to 


204 

the  influence  of  tlie  Son  of  God.  Tliere  must 
somewhere  be  a  ground  for  the  fact,  that  some  re- 
main children  of  the  devil,  while  others  receive  the 
seed  of  God  and  thereby  suffer  themselves  to  be 
made  children  of  God.  Or  are  w^e  to  say,  that  this 
ground  lies  not  in  the  previous  differences  of  suscep- 
tibility in  men,  but  only  in  the  sovereign  agency 
of  God  ;  that  it  is  alone  the  work  of  transforming 
grace  whereby  this,  difference  is  produced,  and  the 
children  of  the  devil  are  re-created  into  childi'en 
of  God?  But  this  is  in  contrariety  with  what 
John  says,  of  the  divine  Father-love  towards  the 
whole  human  race  which  it  seeks  to  redeem,  of  the 
scope  of  Christ's  work  of  redemption  which  takes 
in  all  humanity;  that  the  object  of  his  appearing 
in  humanity  is  to  destroy  all  the  works  of  the 
devil,  to  make  an  end  of  evil  universally.  It  is 
not  therefore  in  the  divine  purpose  taken  by  itself, 
but  in  the  treatment  of  it  by  men  themselves,  that 
we  must  look  for  the  cause  why  some  attain,  while 
others  do  not,  to  a  participation  in  that  which  the 
love  of  God  has  proffered  to  all.  John  could  not, 
moreover,  have  spoken  of  a  judgment  everywhere 
connected  with  the  preaching  of  the  Gos]\el,  and 
going  side  by  side  with  it  (as  in  John  iii.  19),  if 


205 

all  men  deported  themselves  alike  towards  the 
preaching  of  the  Gospel ;  if  God  himself,  by  his 
almighty  agency,  alone  made  the  difl'erence  be- 
tween them  ;  if  this  difference  had  not  its  ground 
in  themselves,  beinc^  brons^ht  to  lio:ht  thronsfh  the 
judicial  power  of  the  Gospel  by  means  of  the 
various  positions  taken  by  men  in  respect  to  it, — 
the  sifting  process  effected  by  the  Gospel.  Thus 
we  are  led  by  John  himself, — though  he  only  pre- 
sents in  general  the  contrast  between  children  of 
the  devil  and  children  of  God,  the  re^renerate 
and  the  unreofenerate, — to  add  to  this  radical  con- 
trariety  still  another  distinction,  whereby  it  be- 
comes possible  that  from  children  of  the  devil  can 
be  formed  children  of  God.  The  Gospel  of  John 
contains  many  an  index  to  the  clearer  recognition 
of  these  differences,  these  intervening  steps.  From 
that  being  boen^  of  God  which  can  alone  be  effect- 
ed through  the  agency  of  the  Gospel,  through  faith 
in  the  Son  of  God,  is  to  be  distinguished  a  pre- 
liminary state  which  is  designated  as  a  being-  of 
God, — a  BEiisra  of  the  truth  (John  xviii.  37) ; 
whereby  is  meant  that  susceptibility  for  what  is 
divine,  for  the  truth,  which  Uituh  those  wdio  pos- 
sess it,  before  they  are  yet  born   of  God  in  that 


206 

higliGr  sense,  to  follow  the  call  of  the  Gospel  when 
extended  to  them.  To  this  addresses  itself  that 
DEAWTN'G  by  the  Father  which  takes  place  in  their 
souls  made  thus  susceptible  through  the  bent  of 
the  will,  and  by  which  they  are  led  to  the  Son. 
The  judgment,  the  sifting  attributed  to  the  Gos- 
pel, is  effected  simply  by  the  development  through 
its  agency  of  the  already  existing  but  hitherto 
concealed  diversity  among  men,  in  respect  to  the 
bent  of  the  will.  This  is  exhibited  in  the  differ- 
ence of  their  bearing  towards  the  Gospel,  accord- 
ing to  the  difference  of  their  susceptibility  for  it ; 
some  hating  and  resisting  the  dawning  light,  on 
account  of  its  contrariety  to  the  darkness  which 
they  love  and  do  not  desire  to  forsake,  and  to  the 
works  of  darkness  which  thus  exposed  are  brought 
into  condemnation ;  while  others  joyfully  accept 
the  light  after  which,  consciously  or  unconsciously, 
they  had  already  longed.     (John  iii.  20,  21.) 

"We  have  seen  that  in  the  children  of  God, 
although  their  determining  tendency  is  that  whicli 
has  its  origin  in  the  birth  from  God,  that  of  the. 
divine  life,  yet  all  is  not  as  yet  in  harmony  with 
this  tendency.  From  that  which  charactei'izes 
them  as  children  of  God, — that  which  belongs  to 


207 

the  aniinatiiig  principle  in  them,  to  their  new  spir- 
itual self,  theii'  new  regenerated  personality, — must 
be  distinguished  that  which  proceeds  from  the 
•after-working  of  the  former  state.      So   also    in 
those,  who  under  that  general  classification  still 
belong  to  the  children  of  the  devil,  must  be  dis- 
tinguished something  which  proceeds  not   from 
him ;  something  which  is  to  be  ascribed  to  their 
original  descent  from  God,  the  obscured  but  still 
underlying  image  of  God,  which  darkened  though 
it  be  has  not  ceased  to  exert  its  influence.     And 
according  as  men,  through  that  in  them  which 
is  of  the  devil  follow  the  spirit  of  the  devil,  or 
through  that  in  them  which  still  proceeds  from  the 
obscured  image  of  God  follow  the  leading  of  God, 
will  result  a  division  among  those  who  seem  col- 
lectively to  belong  to  the  children  of  the  devil. 
But  why  then  does  John  make  only  this  general 
distinction  ?     For  this  reason :  that  it  is  of  prac- 
tical importance,  first  of  all,  to  show  in  the  strong- 
est possible  light  the  contrariety  between  the  new 
christian  stand-point  and  the  former  one  of  the  old 
man,  that  eacli  may  be  fully  aware  how  he  is  to 
distinguisli  himself  from  all  others  as  a  child  of 
God.     The  obliteration  of  this  distinction  has  uni- 


208 

formly  exerted  the  most  pernicious  influence  in 
respect  to  tlie  demands  upon  tlie  christian  life,  to 
the  strictness  of  self-examination.  It  is  all  im- 
portant that  we  learn  first  to  separate  light  and 
darkness,  the  Divine  and  the  Undivine,  totally 
from  each  other ;  to  I'epel  all  reconciliation  and 
agreement  between  these  fundamentally  opposed 
directions,  as  viewed  in  the  whole  strength  of  their 
contrariety.  Unconditional  decision  is  here  re- 
quired. It  is  important  that  we  learn  to  recognize, 
in  all  evil,  this  determining  tendency  by  which  the 
children  of  the  devil  are  manifested  as  such,  in 
order  that  we  may  be  secured  against  the  danger 
of  yielding  in  any  manner  to  the  evil,  even  when 
disguised  under  seeming  good  ;  lest  hurried  along 
farther  and  farther  we  at  length  wholly  succumb 
to  the  power,  which  when  first  approached  we  did 
not  recocrnize,  and  which  now  over-masters  us  be- 
cause  we  did  not  then  sufficiently  resist  it.  It  is 
for  this  reason  so  important  to  our  own  security, 
as  an  incitement  to  constant  watchfulness  over  our- 
selves, that  the  distinction  here  made  between  the 
children  of  God  and  the  children  of  the  devil, — and 
this  distinction  as  manifested  in  the  outward  life, — 
be  apprehended  by  us  in  its  full  force  and  ever 


209 

borne  in  mind  as  a  matter  of  living  consciousness. 
If  we  contemplate  history,  not  as  developing  itself 
in  gradual  manifestations  and  with  its  final  de- 
cisions yet  concealed,  but  as  it  is  presented  to 
the  divine  view ;  it  may  indeed  be  said,  that 
those  who  are  adapted  and  destined,  through 
their  still  latent  susceptibility,  to  become  chil- 
dren of  God  when  reached  by  the  preaching  of 
the  Gospel,  are  already  present  to  his  omniscient 
eye  as  his  children.  Thus  contemplating  what  is 
gradually  developed  to  human  view,  by  the  judicial 
potency  of  the  Gospel,  as  being  ever  open  to  the 
eye  of  God,  we  shall  be  able  to  explain  those  in- 
tervening and  transitional  points  in  that  general 
contrariety,  and  to  find  in  them  a  distinction 
plainly  involved  in  the  Apostle's  view. 

To  bring  out  this  generic  distinction  still  more 
strongly,  John  now  adds  a  specific  mark  by  w^hich 
it  may  be  recognized :  "  He  that  doeth  not  right- 
eousness is  not  of  God,  neither  he  that  loveth  not 
his  brother."  The  Apostle  here  resumes  the  gen- 
eral distinction,  in  order  to  trace  back  righteous- 
ness in  the  abstract,  to  that  concrete  which  is  al- 
ways contemplated  by  him  as  the  soul  of  all 
righteousness, — that  which  is  in  itself  the  fulfil 

14 


210 

ment  of  all  righteousness,  the  one  thing  whicb 
suffices  in  place  of  all,  viz.  Brotherly-Love. 

This  forms  the  transition  to  what  follows,  the 
representation  of  love   as   the   distin- 

Ch.  iii.  11,  12.] 

guishing  the  characteristic  mark  of  the 
christian  relation  :  "  For  this  is  the  message 
which  ye  have  heard  from  the  l)egiuning,  that  we 
should  love  one  another.  Not  as  Cain,  who  was 
of  that  wicked  one,  and  slew  his  l)Tother." 

Here  again,  in  his  peculiar  mode  of  conception, 
John  passes  over  the  manifold  gi-adations  in  ac- 
tual life,  and  apprehends  the  moral  opposites  in 
their  most  sharply  defined  contrariety,  as  it  is 
founded  in  the  essential  nature  of  the  inward  dis- 
position. With  him,  this  root  of  the  inward  dis- 
position is  the  all  in  all ;  and  accordingly  he  con- 
trasts hatred  with  the  principle  of  brotherly  love. 
He  recognizes  no  intervening  stand-point.  Where 
love  is  wanting,  selfishness  is  the  governing  prin- 
ciple, making  the  individual  the  centre  of  all,  re- 
ferring all  to  itself ;  and  hence  the  efifort  to  remove 
out  of  the  way  whatever  stands  opposed  to  its 
own  selfish  interests.  It  can  tolerate  no  competi- 
tor, nothing  which  is  not  subservient  to  itself; 
and  hence  it  becomes   hatred   towards  another. 


211 

when  through  him  these  selfish  interests  are  en- 
dangered. Hatred  too,  he  apprehends  -at  the  cul- 
minating point  of  manifestation,  since  out  of 
hatred  proceeds  murder ;  and  accordingly  he 
names,  as  the  representative  of  those  motives  of 
conduct  which  are  opposed  to  love,  him  who  first 
actualized  such  a  disposition,  and  who  is  exhibited 
in  the  Scriptures  as  the  first  who  shed  another's 
blood.  Thus  the  Apostle  everywhere  apprehends 
moral  opposites  in  the  deepest  root  of  the  dispo- 
sition. To  Love,  ready  to  surrender  life  for  an- 
other's good,  he  opposes  Hate,  which  for  itself 
would  sacrifice  the  life  of  another.  Where  love 
is  not  the  animating  principle,  there  rules  selfish- 
ness with  hatred  in  its  bosom  ;  and  hatred,  at  the 
culminating  point  of  its  manifestation,  is  murder, 
'In  the  germ,  the  disposition,  murder  exists  there 
already.  The  germ  needs  only  to  be  fully  devel- 
oped in  order  to;  become  murder.  In  the  want 
of  Brotherly-love,  in  hatred,  we  behold  the  root 
whose  fruit  is  murder.  Thus  the  highest  moral 
tribunal  regards  not  fhe  act,  but  condemns  in  its 
first  germ  the  disposition  out  of  which  the  act 
proceeds.  Before  this  tribunal  every  emotion  of 
hatred  appears  as  murder.     John  here  follows  the 


212 

standard  of  moral  judgment  employed  by  Clirist 
in  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount.  And  thus  the 
children  of  God,  whose  animating  spirit  is  love, 
are  set  in  contrast  with  those  who  are  of  the  evil 
one,  the  children  of  the  devil,  in  whom  hate 
governs  as  in  Cain  their  representative. 

The   Apostle   is   led   by   this   to   contemplate 
Christians  in  their  contrariety  to  the 

Ch.  iii.  12-15.] 

world.  The  transition  is  suggested  by 
the  contrariety  between  Cain  and  Abel.  "  And 
wherefore  slew  he  him  ?  Because  his  own  woi-ks 
were  evil,  and  his  brother's  righteous.  Mai-vel 
not,  my  brethren,  if  the  world  hate  you."  As 
Abel  is  the  type  of  the  children  of  God,  Cain 
the  type  of  the  children  of  the  devil,  so  in  their 
relation  to  each  other  is  exhibited  the  relation  of 
Christians  to  the  world.  As  Cain  hated  and' 
murdered  Abel  on  account  of  the  contrariety  be- 
tween the  godly  and  the  ungodly  disposition,  so 
does  the  world  hate  and  murder  the  children  of 
God  on  account  of  the  same  contrariety.  The 
world  and  the  children  of  God  are,  like  love  and 
selfishness,  in  perpetual  conflict  with  each  other. 
Hence  it  need  not  surprise  Christians  to  find 
themselves  hated  by  the  world ;   they  must  ex- 


213 

pect  it  beforeliancl,  as  a  consequence  of  tlie  con- 
trariety of  their  spirit  to  that  of  the  world.     It  is 
the  stamp  of  the  divine  life,  whose  impress  con- 
stitutes them  the  opposite  of  the  world.     Hence 
the  words  which  follow :  "  We  know  that  we  have 
passed  from  death  unto  life,  because  we  love  the 
brethren.     Whoso  loveth  not  his  brother  abideth 
in   death.     Whoso  hateth  his  brother  is  a  mur- 
derer: and  ye  know  that  no  murderer  hath  eter- 
nal life  abiding  in  him."     To  John,  the  love  of 
God  alone  appears  as  life  absolutely;    and   the 
true  life  of  the  God-allied  sphit  can  consist  only 
in  fellowship  with  God,  in  participation  in  the  di- 
vine life.     All  life  apart  from  this  fellowship,— 
the  life  of  the  spirit  abandoned  to  itself,  referring 
only  to  itself,— being  an  estrangement  from  that 
which  is  and  can  alone  be  the  spirit's  true  life,  and 
is  for  the  spirit  Death.     The  world,  as  estranged 
from  God,  has  therefore  fallen  a  prey  to  death. 
Christians  also  were  once,  as  belonging   to   the 
world,  sul)ject  to  the  same  death.     Being  separa- 
ted from  the  world  by  faith,  and  becoming  par- 
takers of  fellowship  with  God   through  Christ, 
they  have  passed  from  death  unto  life.     While 
yet  here  below,  they  possess   in  themselves  this 


214 

true  divine  life ;  and  as  the  seeming  life  of  the 
world,  whicli  is  but  death,  makes  itself  known  by 
the  want  of  love,  by  the  selfisli  nature,  hatred ;  so 
on  the  other  hand,  love  is  the  characteristic  mark 
of  the  true  divine  life.  Herein  therefore  must 
the  contrariety,  between  those  who  have  attained 
to  tke  true  life  and  those  who  are  still  in  a  state 
of  death,  make  itself  manifest.  He  who  loves  not 
his  brother,  says  John,  though  he  calls  himself  a 
Christian,  belongs  still  to  the  world.  Love  is 
wanting,  and  therefore  also  the  divine  life  whereby 
the  children  of  God  are  distinguishefl  fi'oin  the 
world.  Such  an  one  has  not  passed  from  death 
unto  life:  he  abides  in  death,  like  the  world  to 
which  he  belongs.  What  he  calls  faith,  is  not 
that  direction  of  the  spirit  whereby  one  passes 
from  death  unto  life,  and  is  not  therefore  what  in 
the  true  sense  can  bear  the  name  of  faith.  In 
John's  view,  it  is  not  by  assent  to  certain  articles 
of  belief  that  genuine  Christianity,  the  distinction 
between  wkat  is  Christian  and  what  is  Unchris- 
tian must  make  itself  known, — but  in  the  life,  in 
love.  Here,  however,  must  be  borne  in  mind  the 
connection  of  ideas  peculiar  to  John's  mode  of 
conception, — viz.  that  love   proceeds   only   from 


215 

faith,  is  sometliing  spontaneously  evolved  from 
])ei-sonal  experience  of  the  redeemiug  love  of  God 
in  Christ.  He  asserts  that  wliere  tliere  is  not 
love,  there  can  be  no  participation  in  that  ti'ue 
life  in  its  nature  exalted  above  change  and  death, 
containing  in  itself  the  germ  of  a  development  for 
eternity  and  hence  called  eternal  life.  And  this 
he  proves  by  substituting  for  isroT  to  love  its 
equivalent,  HATE ;  and  by  aj^plying  to  the  gei-m 
-)f  hatred  in  the  heart,  what  is  true  of  murder, 
which  is  only  the  highest  expression  of  hate.  He 
assumes,  as  already  known  and  admitted,  that  no 
murderer  hath  eternal  life  ;  where  this  disposition 
exists,  eternal  life  can  have  no  place.  Perhaps 
John  here  alludes  to  a  spiritual  conception  of  the 
divine  sentence,  that  he  who  sheds  the  blood  of 
another  shall  die  the  death.  To  him,  all  life  es- 
tranged from  God  is  death, — is  the  opposite  to 
that  true  divine  life  which  already  is  eternal  life. 
AVhat  is  predicable  of  murder  is,  from  the  stand- 
point of  that  highest  tribunal  which  takes  coo-ni- 
zance  of  the  intention,  to  be  applied  to  the  germ 
of  murder  already  existing  in  hatred, — in  the 
want  of  love. 

Our  attention  is  directed  to  that  connection  be- 


216 

tween  faitli  and  love,  of  wliich  we  have  spoken,  in 
the  verse  immediately  following::  "Here- 

Ch.iii.  16.]  .  -^  ^      . 

in  perceive  we  the  love  of  God,  in  that 
he  has  laid  down  his  life  for  us,  and  we  ought 
also  to  lay  down  our  lives  for  the  brethren." 

What  John  designates  as  love,  is  only  that 
which  springs  from  inward  experience  of  the  re- 
deeming love  of  God ;  which  feels  itself  constrain- 
ed to  imitate  the  redeeming  love  of  Christ,  as  ex- 
hibited in  his  life ;  that  love  to  God  which  pours 
itself  out  in  brotherly  love,  after  the  example  of 
Christ.  By  this  example  John  brings  to  view  the 
true  inward  nature  of  love,  and  the  way  in  which 
it  must  manifest  itself  in  the  life.  What  love  is, 
says  he,  we  have  already  learned  in  the  example 
of  Christ  who  gave  his  life  for  us.  So  also  with 
us,  must  love  prove  itself  to  be  true  by  our  readi- 
ness to  give  up  all,  to  saciifice  life  itself  for  the 
sake  of  the  brethren. 

But  since  everything  depends  on  keeping  the 
distinction  clearly  marked  between  ap- 

Ch.  iii.  17,  18] 

])earance  and  reality ;  since  all  Avhich  is 
genuine  can  be  imitated  in  its  outward  aspect,  and 
become  mere  a])])earance ;  John  feels  himself  ob- 
liged to  warn  his  Ijrethren  against  this  tendency, 


217 

even  in  regard  to  that  wbich  is  peculiarly  opposed 
to  all  seeming,  and  is  adapted  above  all  else  to 
demonstrate  the  trae  nature  and  the  reality  of  the 
christian  life,  viz.  Love.  He  contrasts  tliat  broth- 
erly-love whicli  proves  its  existence  by  act,  by 
sacrifice  of  self,  with  that  of  which  there  is  a  mere 
show  in  words,  and  where  the  avoixIs  are  convicted 
of  falsehood  by  the  act.  "  But  whoso  hath  this 
world's  good,  and  seeth  his  brother  hath  need,  and 
shutteth  up  his  bowels  of  compassion  from  him ; 
how  dwelleth  the  love  of  God  in  him  ?  My  little 
children,  let  us  not  love  in  word,  neither  in  tongue, 
but  in  deed  and  in  truth."  Where  brotherly-love 
does  not  exist,  and  show  itself  by  acts  for  the  re- 
lief of  others'  necessities,  there  love  to  God  is  also 
wanting. 

Having  thus  distinguished  between  truth  and 
appearance  in  respect  to  love,  requiring 
that  love  which  is  trutli ;  he  now  con- 
nects this  with  the  general  fact,  that  the  whole  chris- 
tian life  must  have  its  root  in  truth, — with  the  uni- 
versal contrariety  between  truth  and  appearance. 
"  Ana  hereby  we  know  that  Ave  are  of  the  truth, 
and  shall  assure  our  hearts  before  him.  For  if  our 
heart  condemn  us,  God  is  greater  than  our  heart, 


and  knovvetli  all  tilings.  Beloved,  if  oli*  heart 
condemn  us  not,  then  have  we  confidence  towards 
God.  And  whatsoever  we  ask,  we  receive  of  him, 
])ecause  we  keep  liis  commandments,  and  do  those 
things  that  are  pleasing  in  his  sight."  John  has 
shown,  by  a  single  example,  in  what  way  the  truth 
of  the  christian  life  whose  essence  is  love,  must 
approve  itself.  This  Christ  has  also  done  in  the 
Sermon  on  the  Mount  (Matt.  xvii.  12):  "What- 
soever ye  would  that  men  should  do  to  you,  do  ye 
even  so  to  them ;  for  this  is  the  Law  and  the  Pro- 
phets." These  words  are  by  no  means  adapted  to 
express  the  peculiar  nature  of  Christianity  as  a 
whole ;  nor  should  they  be  used  for  this  ^^urpose, 
as  has  been  done  by  some  through  misapprehen- 
sion of  the  nature  of  the  Gospel,  and  of  the  import 
of  these  words  in  their  connection.  Were  this  all, 
then  truly  Christ  needed  not  to  have  come.  To 
enjoin  the  command, — this  is  an  easy  matter;  but 
does  not  bring  with  it  obedience  to  the  command. 
The  great  point  is,  how  to  attain  to  a  conformity 
with  this  command  ;  and  all  turns  upon  the  ques- 
tion, from  what  temper  of  mind  does  the  fulfilment 
of  it  proceed.  For  even  the  wisdom  of  self-love 
could  suggest,  that  we  must  be  willing  to  do  for 


219 

others  what  they  desire  of  ns,  in  order  that  we 
may  receive  the  like  from  them.  Thus  it  would 
only  be  the  course  of  prudent  calculation,  far  from 
that  which  Christ  established  as  a  law  for  the  life. 
But  our  Lord's  design  in  this  passage,  as  also  that 
of  John  in  the  above  example,  is  to  contrast  ti'ue 
righteousness  whose  essence  is  love,  with  a  ]) re- 
tended  righteousness ;  and  accordingly  he  directs 
attention  to  the  test,  whereby  the  true  nature  of 
love  is  to  make  itself  known,  as  opposed  to  a  love 
merely  assumed  for  show  by  such  as  are  deceivers 
of  themselves.  The  test  is  this :  ai-e  we  constrained 
by  love  to  do  for  another,  what  we  in  like  circum- 
stances would  desire  that  he  should  do  for  us? 
Such  is  also  the  test  of  love  here  presented  by 
John.  By  this  test,  says  he, — viz.  when  our  con- 
duct actually  harmonizes  with  the  disposition  pre- 
supposed in  us  as  christians, — we  may  know  that 
we  are  of  the  truth.  In  the  mode  of  conception 
peculiar  to  John,  he  regards  truth  not  merely  as 
a  matter  of  knowledge,  but  as  something  pertain- 
ing to  the  moral  temper  and  the  life.  Thus,  as  in 
the  children  of  God  he  assumes  a  being  of  God, 
so  does  he  also  a  being  of  the  truth.  Christ  calls 
himself,  absolutely,  the  truth;  in  him  the  truth 


220 

has  appeared  in  a  personal  form,  and  has  entered 
into  the  life  of  humanity.  His  whole  life  is  truth, 
the  only  life  which  is  perfect  truth,  wholly  one 
with  itself  as  it  is  one  Avith  God.  Thus  believers 
also,  in  proportion  as  they  have  received  him  into 
themselves,  are  of  the  truth.  In  the  world  all  i? 
appearance ;  with  christians  all  should  be  truth. 
And  the  touchstone  here  pi'oposed,  whereby  they 
may  know  whether  they  are  of  the  truth,  is  this : 
does  their  life,  their  conduct,  really  harmonize  with 
what  they  acknowledge  from  the  christian  stand- 
point as  the  law  of  their  conduct, — with  what  they 
have  professed  ? 

If  now,  says  the  Apostle,  our  whole  life  in  pro- 
fession and  conduct  is  thus  of  one  piece,  is  in  ac- 
cord with  itself,  we  shall  be  able  to  quiet  our 
hearts  before  God.  Under  the  name  of  heart, 
John  comprehends  all  the  various  capacities  and 
modes  of  action  belonging  to  the  spirit,  without 
applying  the  particular  designations  coined  by 
more  cultivated  languages  for  the  separate  fac- 
ulties. These  distinctions  have  indeed  their  pro- 
priety ;  and  so  has  also  the  neglect  of  such  a 
division,  the  indivisible  conception  and  contem- 
plation of  the  spirit  in  the  totality  of  all  its  powers 


221 

and  actions.  It  indicates  to  us  how  closely  all  i^ 
connected  together  in  the  life  of  the  spirit.  This 
is  important  for  the  right  conception  and  formation 
of  the  christian  life,  both  as  it  directs  the  attention 
to  the  inmost  and  deepest  root  of  the  spiritual  life, 
all  being  here  determined  by  the  moral  basis,  the 
bent  towards  God  or  the  world,  towards  good  or 
evil ;  and  also  as  it  is  the  christian's  work,  the 
task  assigned  him,  from  that  highest  principle  the 
one  determining  tendency  towards  God,  to  mould 
the  whole  life  in  all  its  capacities  and  relations 
into  an  all-embracing  unity.  In  this  passage,  by 
heart  John  understands  that  faculty  of  the  spirit, 
which  elsewhere  is  designated  as  the  conscience. 
He  speaks  of  a  quieting  of  the  conscience  before 
God,  inasmuch  as  in  the  conscience  the  voice  of 
God  our  judge  reveals  itself;  bringing  us  before 
the  eye  of  God  as  the  judge  of  our  life,  and  mak- 
ing him  present  to  the  soul.  It  is  that  tribunal 
of  conscience  referred  to  by  Paul  (Rom.  ii.  15), 
where  he  speaks  of  the  thoughts  of  men  as  accusing 
or  excusing  their  dealings  one  with  another.  And 
a  condition  of  the  inner  life  is  here  presented, 
wherein  man  can  bring  quiet  to  his  conscienco  in 
view  of  God  the  holy  judge ;  wherein  he  need  not 


222 

fear  tlie  accusings  of  conscience,  througli  which 
speaks  the  judicial  voice  of  God :  inasmuch  as  con- 
science can  convict  him  of  no  discord  between  his 
profession  and  his  course  of  life,  but  he  is  conscious 
to  himself  of  fulfilling  the  conditions  of  salvation 
ordained  by  God. 

The  Apostle  then  illustrates '  by  contrast  the 
high  value  of  such  a  possession,  that  of  a  quiet 
conscience  in  harmony  with  itself  If  our  con- 
science convicts  us  of  inward  falsehood,  makes 
manifest  to  ourselves  the  contradiction  between 
our  life  and  our  profession ;  we  must  be  convinced, 
that  as  we  cannot  deceive  our  own  hearts,  cannot 
falsify,  or  silence  the  voice  within  us,  still  less  is  it 
in  our  power  to  deceive  God.  God  is  greater 
than  our  heait,  is  the  Omniscient  One ;  and  what 
cannot  be  k^pt  concealed  from  our  own  conscience, 
will  certainly  not  remain  hidden  from  his  eye, 
whose  all-penetrating  glance  nothing  can  escape. 
The  accusings  of  our  own  conscience  thus  reveal  to 
us  the  condemnatory  sentence  of  God  against  us. 
Thus  the  Apostle  directs  us  to  something  in  oni- 
mward  being,  from  which  we  can  obtain  the  surest 
knowledge  respecting  ourselves  and  our  relatimi 
to  God ;  by  which  we  may  be  guarded  against  nil 


223 

corruption  through  the  praise  of  others,  who  look 
only  u23on  the  appearance,  against  all  the  decep- 
tions of  vanity  and  self-love  ;  something  which  is 
ever  present,  teaching  us  to  distinguish  between 
being  and  seeming,  between  the  real  and  the  appa- 
rent character  of  our  life.  It  summons  us  to  col- 
lect ourselves  from  all  the  distracting  influences  of 
the  world;  to  withdraw  deep  into  our  inward 
selves,  and  there  before  that  holy  incorruptible 
tribunal,  to  test  ourselves,  to  judge,  and  to  mould 
our  lives  accordingly. 

As  then,  says  the  Apostle,  if  our  own  heart  con- 
demn us,  we  thereby  know  that  God  so  much  the 
more  condemns  us  ;  so  on  the  other  hand,  if  our 
heart  condemn  us  not,  this  is  a  pledge  that  neither 
does  God  condemn  us.  We  have  the  most  assured 
and  joyful  confidence  towards  God  as  the  witness 
of  our  integrity.  ' 

A  reliance  upon  human  righteousness,  as  avail- 
ing before  God,  can  by  no  means  be  intended  here. 
This  would  be  in  contrariety  with  the  whole  teach- 
ing of  the  Apostle  in  this  Letter.  So  far  from 
this,  he  assumes  the  filial  relation  to.  God  ground- 
ed in  fellowship  with  Chijjt  as  already  existing, 
and  as  being  the  source  of  that  joyful  confiding 


224 

trust,  in  which  the  believer  rises  to  God  as  his 
Father. ,  He  is  merely  pointing  out  the  conditions, 
under  which  alone  believers  can  hold  themselves 
entitled  to  appropriate  all  that  is  involved  in  that 
filial  relation.  It  is  then,  and  only  then,  when 
their  life  in  truth  accords  with  this  relation  to 
God  as  their  Father,  and  so  all  in  them  is  truth. 

The  Apostle  then  dwells  particularly  upon  one 
of  the  privileges  belonging  to  that  filial  relation, 
and  in  which  it  is  specially  recognized,  viz.  the  po- 
sition towards  God  as  their  Father  in  which  be- 
lievers stand  through  prayer, — the  filial  relation 
in  prayer.  As  sons,  whose  filial  relation  has  suf 
fered  no  interruption,  can  with  childlike  trust  and 
confidence  ask  all  from  their  father  ;  so  believers, 
whose  life  is  of  the  truth,  who  are  conscious  of  no 
distur])ance  of  their  filial  relation  to  God  through 
unfaithfulness  on  their  part,  can  ask  all  with  child- 
like trust  and  confidence  from  God  their  Father. 
x\nd  as  the  child  knows  beforehand,  that  the 
fiither  will  grant  to  him  all  that  is  conducive  to 
his  best  good ;  so  do  believers  also,  while  in  this 
temper  of  heart  asking  God  their  Father,  know 
that  he  grants  all  th^  desire,  leaves  no  request 
unheard.     It  is  all  the  same  as  if  they  already  had 


225 

what  they  ask.  By  such  a  certainty  of  leing 
heard  is  their  prayer  accompanied.  The  ground 
of  this  certainty,  according  to  the  Apostle,  is  this  : 
that  they  obey  the  commands  of  God,  and,^ — as  he 
more  exactly  defines  it, — do  those  things  which 
are  well-pleasing  in  hk  sight ;  that  is,  what  is 
truly  good,  what  appears  such  in  the  sight  of  a 
holy  God.  This  has  reference  not  merely  to  the 
external  act,^  but  to  that  also  from  which  alone 
the  practice  of  righteousness  in  external  acts  de- 
rives its  true  significance,  the  disposition  of  heart 
from  which  the  act  proceeds.  It  must  be  a  dispo- 
sition corresponding  to  the  divine  law,  such  an  one 
as  God  desires,  w^ell-pleasing  in  his  sight;  one 
which  has  God  for  its  end  and  aim,  which  has  no 
object  but  his  glory.  It  is  clear,  therefore,  that 
the  connection  of  prayer  with  the  christian  life  as 
a  whole  is  here  presupposed ;  that  prayer  is  not 
something  isolated  and  distinct  from  the  rest  of  the 
life,  but  proceeds-  from  the  same  holy  disposition 
which  governs  the  whole  life,  and  expresses  itself 
in  every  action.  In  order  that  the  whole  life  may 
be  of  the  truth,  it  is  necessary  moreover  that  this 
disposition,  this  direction'^  of  the  spirit  towards 
God,  since  it  pi'oceeds  from  fellowship  with  Christ, 

15 


226 

should  in  every  work  show  itself  as  something  de- 
rived through  him. 

What  we  have  now  said  removes  an  objection, 
which,  without  a  more  careful  consideration  of  the 
words,  might  arise  from  the  unconditional  promise 
that  every  request  shall  be  heard.  For  the  object 
of  prayer  might  be  something,  which  would  not 
really  j^romote  the  salvation  of  him  wlio  de'sires 
it ;  something  not  in  harmony  with  the  councils 
of  God's  universal  government.  Shall  aught  there- 
in be  changed  by  the  caprice  of  man  ?  But  this 
difficulty  is  at  once  relieved  when  we  contemplate 
prayer  in  the  connection  here  presented,  prayer 
as  proceeding  from  the  whole  filial  relation  to  God, 
from  the  disposition  which  determines  and  controls 
the  whole  life.  This  is  no  other  than  the  spirit  of 
filial  submission  to  God,  of  concord  between  the 
human  and  divine  will.  The  condition,  which  is 
afterwards  expressly  insisted  on  by  the  Apostle, 
follows  of  itself  from  this  connection.  Prayer  too 
can  be  reckoned  among  the  things  well-pleasing 
to  God,  only  so  fiir  as  submission  to  his  will  ac- 
companies every  request ;  and  hence  the  absolute 
promise  that  it  shall  be  heard.  Moreover,  a  re- 
lation so  intimate  of  believers  to  God  as  their 


227 

Father  is  presupposed,  that  from  the  same  fellow- 
ship with  him  in  which  their  whole  life  has  its 
root,  proceed  also  their  prayers.  The  believer 
prays,  in  fellowship  with  Christ,  for  that  which 
Christ  himself  would  have  prayed  for  in  his  place ; 
for  that  which  the  spirit  of  Christ,  in  moments  of 
peculiar  spiritual  elevation,  discovers  to  him  as 
suitable,  and  impels  him  to  ask.  The  same  God, 
who  through  his  Spirit  inspires  the  prayer,  grants 
also  the  fulfilment  of  it.  All  has  its  source  in  the 
same  reference  of  the  life  to  God.  This  is  what 
Christ  designates  as  prayer  in  his  name  ;  and  the 
hearing  of  such  prayer  is  therefore  promised  un- 
conditionally. 

Having  previously  spoken  of  obedience  to  com- 
mands in  Q^eneral,  the  Apostle  now  resolves 

,  [Oil.  iii.  23. 

the  whole  into  obedience  to  that  one  com- 
mand in  which  all  is  contained  :  "  And  this  is  his 
commandment ;    that  we  should  believe  on  the 
name  of  his  Son  Jesus  Christ,  and  love  one  another^ 
as  he  gave  us  commandment." 

The  law  of  the  Old  Covenant  began  by  insti- 
tuting commands  for  the  conduct.  But  the  power 
so  to  conduct  was  wanting;  and  this  no  law  could 
impart  to  man.     Hence  the  Law  could  serve  no 


other  purpose  than  to  bring  man  to  the  conscious- 
ness of  his  moral  inability,  of  his  discord  with  God 
and  with  his  own  better  nature,  to  the  conscious- 
ness of  spiritual  death.  Here  now,  on  the- con- 
trary, all  commands  are  resolved  into  one  ;  and 
this  has  reference  not  to  a  Doma,  but  to  a  believ- 
ES"G, — the  command  of  the  Father  that  we  should 
believe  on  the  name  of  his  Son  Jesus  Christ ; 
should  believe  on  him  in  the  relation  in  wliicli  lie 
is  presented  to  man  by  God  as  his  only-begotten 
Son,  as  He  through  whom  alone  we  can  come  to 
the  Father,  the  Redeemer  from  sin,  the  Lord  to 
whom  henceforth  should  belonof  the  whole  life. 

o 

So  Christ,  when  asked  by  the  Jews  what  they 
should  do  that  they  might  work  the  works  of  God, 
gave  no  other  answer  than  this  :  That  they  should 
believe  on  him  whom  God  had  sent;  implying 
that  in  this  was  contained  the  source  and  sum  of 
all.     (John  vi.  29.) 

Belief,  however,  is  a  matter  of  convictiou.  How 
then  can  it  be  commanded  a  man,  to  make  this  or 
that  an  object  of  conviction  to  himself?  This 
stands  not  within  his  own  power,  it  depends  not 
on  his  own  will ;  for  conviction  is  an  involuntary 
thing.     God  would  have  instituted  no  such  ro- 


229 

quirement,  Lad  not  He,  who  is  to  be  the  object  of 
belief,  so  corresponded  to  the  requirement  in  his 
appearing  and  his  life,  as  necessarily  to  become 
the  object  of  belief  to  every  truth-loving,  salva- 
tion-seeking spirit.  In  this  command  there  is  pre- 
supposed the  impression,  which  the  whole  life  of 
Christ  must  make  upon  him  who  contemplates  it 
in  the  right  spirit ;  the  impression  of  Christ  as 
designated  and  accredited  by  God  himself,  through 
the  manner  in  which^he  dwelt  in  him  and  wrought 
in  him.  So  also  in  the  words  of  Christ  just  refer- 
red to,  this  is  alleged  as  the  ground  on  which 
God  can  require  faith  in  him :  "For  him  hath 
God  the  Father  sealed  ;"  the  works  which  the 
Father  had  given  him  to  perform  being  the  tokens 
of  that  sealing.  While  it  is  here  assumed  on  the 
one  hand,  that  God  has  thus  accredited  him  in 
whose  name  he  requires  belief,  and  therefore  can 
require  it;  it  is  also  presupposed  that  he  has  so 
formed  the  natui-e  of  men  as  that  He  cannot  but 
make  on  them  this  divine  impression, — cannot  but 
reveal  himself  as  He  to  whom  their  God-allied  na- 
ture attracts  them,  and  in  whom  alone  they  can 
find  satisfaction  for  all  their  higher  w^ants ;  of 
whom  their  God-related  nature  itself  beai's  unde- 


230 

niable  testimony,  that  to  hira  they  belong,  that 
he  alone  can  free  them  fi'om  sin  and  all  their 
misery,  can  alone  impart  that  true  life  which  they 
need.  There  is  presupposed  the  original  and  con- 
tinued connection  of  the  God-related  soul  with  the 
God  in  whom  it  lives  and  moves  and  is;  and 
hence  that  drawing  of  the  Father  hy  which  the 
souls  of  men  ai'e  led  to  the  Son.  This  command 
of  God  is,  consequently,  no  other  than  what  arises 
of  itself  from  the  relation  of  Christ  to  the  human 
soul.  It  is  no  arbitrary  requisition.  What  is  re- 
quired by  the  truth  itself,  by  those  divine  histor- 
ical facts,  according  as  they  do  with  the  c.'ip.-uities 
and  laws  of  human  natui-e,  with  its  deep-implanted 
wants, — this  here  takes  the  outward  form  of  a 
command  of  God.  All  this,  however,  whereby 
this  command  is  shown  to  be  the  expression  of  an 
inward  divine  necessity,  could  be  presupposed  as 
already  knowm,  and  needing  no  farther  confirma- 
tion. For  the  Apostle  was  addressing  churches 
already  long  established  in  Christianity ;  who  had 
found,  in  their  own  experience,  manifold  evidences 
of  the  inward  necessity  of  this  belief.  To  such 
personal  experience  the  Apostle  makes  his  appeal 
in  many  passages  of  this  Epistle.     They  had  long 


231 

known  tliis  as  a  command  divinely  enstamped 
upon  their  souls,  constraining  them  to  believe  on 
the  name  of  Jesus.  Now  as  in  this  one  command 
all  others  are  included;  so  of  necessity,  as  single 
commands  to  be  enjoined  each  by  itself,  they  are 
made  superfluous.  In  that  one  command  was  be- 
stowed, moreover,  the  ability  to  obey  all  others, — 
the  motive-power  for  the  fulfilment  of  all  which 
the  Law  requires.  Thereby  had  the  Law  l)een 
converted  from  an  outward  to  an  inward  law,  hav- 
ing its  root  in  the  inner  life.  The  Apostle,  thei-e- 
fore,  expresses  only  that  one  command ;  which, 
having  for  its  basis  faith  in  Jesus  who  had  offered 
up  his  life  for  the  salvation  of  man,  contains  all 
others  in  itself  and  renders  them  superfluous, — the 
one   command   proceeding   from    Christ   himself, 

LOVE  ONE   ATiOTIIER  ! 

As  it  is  by  keeping  the  commands  of  Christ 
that  faith  in  him  must  approve  itself,  so 

[Ch.  iii.  24. 

also  is  this  the  condition  of  abiding  in 
fellowship  with  him.  "  And  he  that  keepeth  liis 
commandments  dwelleth  in  Him,  and  He  in  him  : 
and  hereby  we  know  that  he  abideth  in  us,  by  the 
spirit  which  he  hath  given  us."  Thus  it  is  by 
obedience  to  the  commands  of  Christ  as  contained 


232 

in  that  one  command,  Ave  attest  our  voluntary 
■  abiding  in  fellowship  with  Christ;  this  being  the 
necessary  condition  on  our  part,  in  order  that  we 
may  continue  to  enjoy  the  communication  of 
Christ,  and  that  he  may  abide  in  fellowship  with 
us.  This  reciprocity  is  always  presupposed  ;  tlie 
keeping  of  the  commands  of  Christ  as  depending 
upon  that  mutual  fellowship,  and  as  being  also  the 
condition  and  the  evidence  of  this  continued  fel- 
lowship. 

The  Apostle  then  appeals  to  that,  whereby  this 
continued  fellowship  manifests  itself  to  the  con- 
sciousness of  each ;  to  that  internal  fact  of  a  con- 
scious divine  life,  imparted  by  Christ  through  the 
Holy  Spirit.  That  we  live  in  fellowship  with 
him,  we  know  by  the  spii-it  which  he  has  given 
us, — that  invisible  pledge,  manifesting  itself  to  tlie 
inward  experience,  of  uninterrupted  union  with 
him.  Thus  when  about  to  part  from  his  disci- 
ples, no  more  to  l)e  with  them  in  his  personal 
bodily  presence,  he  promised  that  he  would  be  in- 
visibly near  and  j)]-esent  among  them,  no  less  truly 
than  during  his  earthly  manifestation.  The  proof 
of  this  his  actual  presence  among  them,  should  be 
the  communication  to   them  of  his  Spirit.     This 


233 


should    be   the   medium    of    union   between    be- 
lievei's  and  their  Saviour,  until  vision  takes  the 
place  of  faith  ;  till  that  immediate  view  of  Christ, 
enjoyed  by  his  disciples  in  the  ftimiliar  intercourse 
of  his  earthly  life,  is  restored  in  heightened  glory 
to  believers.     It  is  to  this  inward  experience  that 
the  Apostle  makes  his  appeal  with  these  churches, 
and  to  it  the  inward  experience  of  believers  in  all 
ages    bears   witness.     Here,  then,   are   conjoined 
■*.wo  characteristic  marks  of  fellowship  with  Christ 
w^hich  cannot  be  dissevered  from  each  other ;  the 
one  inward,  perceptible  to  the  immediate  inner 
consciousness,— the    other  belonging  to  the  out- 
ward life,  but  presupposing  the  former,  of  wdiich  it 
is  at  once  the  outward  expression,  and  the  condi- 
tion of  its  continuance.    The  first  is,— Participation 
in  the  Spirit  promised  by  Christ ;  the  second.  Obe- 
dience to  his  commands,  which  is  the  fruit  of  that 
Spirit's   agenc}-,  and  in  which  such  participation 
makes  itself  apparent.     This  being  the   Spirit's 
work,  is   also,  as  the   evidence  of  this  work,  the 
condition  of  its  continuance ;  all  divine  gifts  being 
conditioned  upon  the  faithful  use  of  what  is  be- 
stowed, according  to  the  words  of  Christ :  Whoso 
hath,  to  him  shall  be  given. 


CHAPTERS    IV.   y. 

Throughout  this  Epistle,  the  exhibition  of  truth 
and  the  reprehension  of  opposing  errors  alternate 
the  one  with  the  other.  Here  the  point  of  tran- 
sition lies  in  what  he  had  just  said,  viz.  that  in  the 
case  of  all  believers,  participation  in  the  influences 
of  the  Holy  Spirit  is  the  pledge  of  continued  fel- 
lowship with  Christ.  This  leads  him,  since  there 
was  much  which  falsely  claimed  to  be  from  that 
spirit,  to  direct  attention  to  tlie  difference  between 
its  genuine  o])erations  and  such  as  were  only  pre- 
tended, only  a  deceptive  imitation.  This  connects 
itself  with  his  previous  warnings  against  fjdse 
teachers. 

These  teachers,  as  is  clear  from  the  traits  sub- 
sequently ascribed  to  them,  professed  to  enjoy  the 
special  illumination  of  that  Holy  Spirit  who  is  the 
source  of  life  to  all  christians.  They  spoke  with 
an  irresistible  enthusiasm ;  they  claimed  the  char- 


235 

acter  of  prophets.  All  who  assume  the  office  of 
teachers  in  the  church,  should  be  organs  of  tliat 
Holy  Spirit  who  is  the  pervading  vitalizing  prin- 
ciple of  the  church.  As  it  was  this  Spirit,  whose 
vital  influence  is  presupposed  in  all  as  christians, 
without  which  no  one  could  testify  of  Christ ;  so 
all,  who  would  be  received  as  teachers  in  the 
church,  could  only  speak  as  instruments  of  this 
Spirit,  and  they  were  fully  entitled  so  to  speak. 
What  they  taught,  however,  must  approve  itself 
as  truth,  by  its  harmony  with  that  which  the  samt; 
Spirit  revealed  to  all.  John  himself,  in  a  passage 
which  we  have  already  considered,  appeals  to  this 
inward  test  in  every  believer.  In  the  operations 
of  this  Spirit,  however,  there  were  to  be  found 
many  gradations.  It  might  be  more  the  divinely 
enlightened  reason,  with  its  calmly  progressive 
development  of  truth,  which  predominated  in  the 
teacher's  mode  of  instruction  ;  or  it  might  be  more 
the  immediate  influence  of  sudden  inspiration  by 
the  Holy  Spirit,  seizing  upon  the  mind  with  irre- 
sistible power,  or  revealing  to  the  inward  christian 
sense,  in  moments  of  extraordinary  activity,  new 
and  higher  views  of  truth  of  which  the  recipient 
felt  himself  constrained  to  testify.   This  latter  was 


236 

the  peculiar  characteristic  of  the  prophets,  in  dis- 
tinction from  the  ordinary  teachers  in  the  church, 
A  like  difference  in  the  various  spheres  of  christian 
inspiration,  in  the  gradations  of  the  divine  and 
human,  obtains  in  all  periods  of  the  church.  As  it 
is  the  same  Holy  Spirit  which  governs  the  cliurch 
in  all  ages,  and  the  unity  of  this  Spirit  connects 
the  church  of  all  ages  with  that  of  the  Apostles ; 
as  the  relation  of  human  nature  in  all  its  various 
powers  to  the  Spirit  which  animates  them,  and  the 
laws  according  to  which  that  Spirit  works,  remain 
ever  the  same ;  so  also  will  his  influence  at  all 
times  manifest  itself  in  the  same  generic  foi-ms  and 
with  the  same  gradations.  Hence,  a  careful  ob- 
servation of  history  will  show,  in  other  times,  a 
similar  distinction  between  ])rophets  and  ordinary 
teachers  in  the  church,  between  the  prophetic  gift 
and  the  ordinary  gift  of  teaching ;  a  distinction 
between  such  as  are  to  l)e  compared  with  the 
teachers,  and  such  as  more  resemble  the  prophets 
of  the  apostolic  church.  The  apostolic  church  can- 
not indeed,  nor  was  it  intended  to  be,  reproduced 
as  a  whole  in  exactly  the  same  literal  form.  Yet 
since  it  must  serve,  as  to  its  ruling  spirit  and  its 
leading  princi[)les,  for  the  model  of  all  subsequent 


237 

ciiristiaii  development,  it  were  much  to  be  desired 
that  we  conld  more  closely  follow  its  example,  in 
distiiicviiishinf^  between  these  diirerent  mh^,  and  in 
the  training  and  application  of  them  to  the  various 
circumstances  and  wants  of  the  church. 

The  apostolic  age  differed  from  later  periods  of 
the  cliurch  only  in  this :  that  as  Christian- 

[Ch.  iv.  1-3, 

ity  then  first  made  its  appearance  in  hu- 
manity, as  the  divine  world-transforming  power, 
there  was  a  greater  predominance  of  that  immedi- 
ate divine  impulse  and  inspiration  ;  the  appearing 
of  prophets,  and  the  various  manifestations  of  the 
prophetic  gift,  belonged  more  to  the  ordinary 
phenomena  of  the  church.  But  as,  from  the  very 
first,  corrupt  human  nature  mingled  its  disturbing 
and  adulterating  influence  in  all  the  manifestations 
of  the  divine;  so  with  this  genuine  inspiration 
there  connected  itself  a  false  one,  with  the  sugges- 
tions of  the  divine  Spirit  those  of  an  undivine. 
Enthusiasm  for  the  truth  was  counterfeited  by  en- 
thusiasm for  error ;  delusion  and  fanaticism  had 
also  their  own  prophets;  false  prophets  mingled 
with  the  true.  Error  in  doctrine,  proclaimed  with 
all  the  ardoi' of  a  fiilse  inspiration,  wrought  through 
the  influence  of  that  enthusiasm  tlie  more  power- 


238 

fully  upon  the  popular  miud.  Hence  tliere  was 
needed  for  christians  some  decisive  test,  whereby 
they  might  be  secured  against  the  influence  of  this 
deception,  and  be  enabled  to  distinguish  between 
true  and  false  inspiration.  This  is  furnished  by 
the  Apostle  in  the  following  words :  "  Beloved, 
believe  not  every  spirit,  but  try  the  spirits  whether 
they  are  of  God :  because  many  false  prophets  are 
gone  out  into  the  world.  Hereby  know  ye  the 
Spirit  of  God :  Every  spirit  that  confesseth  that 
Jesus  Christ  is  come  in  the  flesh,  is  of  God :  and 
every  spirit  that  confesseth  not  Jesus,  is  not  of 
God.  And  this  is  the  spirit  of  Antichrist  whereof 
ye  have  heard  that  it  should  come,  and  even  now 
is  it  already  in  the  world." 

Under  the  term  spirit,  the  Apostle  here  com- 
prehends two  things  outwardly  alike,  but  differing 
in  their  inward  and  essential  nature, — viz.  true 
and  false  inspiration,  what  originates  in  the  sug- 
gestions of  the  divine  spirit,  as  well  as  in  those  of 
the  undivine.  He  who  judged  by  no  other  test 
than  appearance  merely,  must  suppose  lie  wit- 
nessed in  all  these  outward  manifestations  the 
same  power  of  inspiration,  revealing  itself  in  words 
of  resistless  fervor.     And  here  a  twofold   error 


239 

might  be  committed.  Christians  might  either 
yield  themselves  crednlously  to  all  which  claimed 
to  be  the  revelation  of  a  higher  spirit,  allowing 
themselves  to  be  hurried  away  as  the  blind  instru- 
ments of  every  influence  ;  or,  detecting  the  sugges- 
tions of  the  undiviue  spirit  and  seeking  to  avoid 
its  delusions,  might  be  thereby  led  to  suspicion 
and  distrust  of  all  such  manifestations,  of  every 
kind  of  inspiration.  As  there  was  a  false  confi- 
dence of  unquestioning  credulity,  so  might  there 
arise  also  a  morbid  scej^ticism  of  mistrust,  -whereby 
the  influences  of  the  Holy  Spirit  might  be  ob- 
structed in  the  church,  and  the  kindling  flame  of 
inspiration  be  at  once  extinguished.  Against  both 
these  errors,  Paul  thought  it  necessary  to  warn 
the  church  at  Thessalonica.  (1  Thess.  v.  19,  ff.) 

The  same  danger  which  then  threatened  the 
christian  life,  must,  by  virtue  of  the  uniform  law 
in  christian  development,  be  constantly  repeated  ; 
and  the  healthful  christian  spirit,  alike  far  from 
blind  credulity  and  from  suspicious  and  unloving 
distrust,  must  trace  out  for  itself  the  right  way 
between  these  two  extremes.  This  finds  a  special 
application  in  times  which  resemble  the  apostolic 
age;  viz.  when  Christianity, — though  not  indeed 


240 

making  its  first  entrance  into  the  world,  yet  rising 
anew  from  victorious  conflict  with  the  hostile 
forces  of  superstition  or  of  scepticism, — begins  to 
work  with  a  new  power;  when  a  new  outpoui'ing 
of  the  Holy  Spirit  is  preparing  the  way  for  itself, 
and  gives  tokens  of  its  coming ;  in  all  times  of 
special  religious  awakening,  or  of  a  spiritual  ex- 
citement whick  affects  the  religious  sphere.  In 
such  times,  there  will  always  be  found  some  who 
are  caught  by  everything  unusual ;  who  give  ear 
too  readily  to  everything  which  assumes  the  lan- 
guage of  religious  zeal ;  who  behold  the  Divine  in 
everything  which  proceeds  from  a  state  of  peculiar 
mental  excitement,  and  claiuis  to  be  the  work  of 
the  Holy  Spirit.  Others,  on  the  contrary,  detect- 
ing this  infusion  of  foreign  elements,  suffer  them- 
selves to  be  thereby  made  distrustful  towards  all 
religious  awakening.  Instead  of  trying  the  spirits, 
they  class  them  all  together  and  reject  all ;  and 
thus,  as  far  as  in  them  lies,  they  extinguish  also 
the  divine  flame,  and  prevent  the  growth  of  that 
new  religious  life  from  which  a  new  creation  was 
to  be  developed.  The  warning  of  the  Apostle  not 
to  believe  every  spirit,  his  requirement  to  test  the 
spii'its,  includes  a  caution  against  both  these  errors. 


241 

In  his  caution  not  to  oelieve  every  spirit,  it  is  im- 
plied tliat  we  are  not  to  reject  all  whicli  claims  to 
be  the  voice  of  the  Holy  Spirit ;  but  should  feel  a 
confidence  that  here  is  in  reality  something  divine. 
Hence  he  requires  us  to  try  the  spirits,  as  a  means 
of  learning  to  distinguish  the  true  from  the  false, 
what  proceeds  from  a  divine  spirit  and  what  from 
an  undivine. 

But  though  the  Apostle  has  in  view  both  errors, 
it  is  here  his  special  object  to  warn  against  the  de- 
lusions of  false  prophets,  and  to  furnish  a  test  by 
which  these  should  be  recognized.  What  he  here 
says  tallies  with  his  previous  warning  against  the 
seductions  of  false  teachers.  So  also  the  mark,  for 
distinguishing  between  the  true  and  the  false,  is  in 
both  cases  the  same.  As  we  have  before  seen,  the 
preaching  of  Jesus,  as  the  divine-human  Saviour 
and  theocratic  King,  is  the  centre  of  all.  To  ac- 
knowledge Jesus  as  the  Christ,  this  in  John's  view  is 
synonymous  with  acknowledging  him  as  He  who  ap- 
peared in  the  flesh,~the  Son  of  God  manifested  in  the 
flesh, — the  eternal  Word  in  his  humanization, — the 
eternal  divine  life-fountain  lettins^  itself  down  into 
human  nature,  and  revealing  itself  in  visible  human 
form, — the  truly  divine  and  human,  inharmonious 


242 

nnion.  In  this  is  involved  the  rejection  of  that 
spectral  sublimation  of  the  Idea  of  Christ,  already 
mentioned ;  of  all  which  tended  to  separate  the 
only-begotten  Son  of  God  from  Him  who  has  ap- 
peared in  the  flesh, — to  obscure  the  unity  between 
the  divine  and  its  manifestation  in  the  flesh.  That 
one  divine  fact,  John  makes  the  centre  of  all.  It 
was,  as  we  before  remarked,  the  grand  point  of  con- 
troversy in  that  age,  as  it  is  the  one  around  which 
gather  all  the  vital  questions  of  the  present  time. 
Here  again  there  is  no  other  test  of  true  faith, 
no  other  law  for  christian  union,  than  steadfast 
adherence  to  that  one  fundamental  fact  of  the  ap- 
pearing of  the  Divine-human  Redeemer.  In  all 
which  proceeds  from  this  belief,  the  influences 
of  the  divine  Spirit  should  be  acknowledged. 
Hence  it  follows,  that  provided  faith  in  this  one 
fundamental  fact  be  the  soul  of  the  christian  life, 
no  minor  diflerences  of  creed  should  be  allowed  to 
disturb  christian  unity ;  that  mistakes  and  alloys 
of  christian  truth,  which  trench  not  on  this  one 
fundamental  fact,  should  not  hinder  us  from  rec- 
ognizing the  divine  stamp  in  him  whose  faith  and 
profession  have  their  root  therein, — that  the 
bonds  of  christian  fellowship  should  not  thereby 


243 

be  sundered  or  loosened.  Steadfast  adlierence  to 
this  one  foundation  is  the  mark  of  being  from 
God,  of  the  spirit  derived  from  God.  Of  course, 
be  who  adheres  to  it  is  in  fellowship  with  God,  is 
a,  partaker  of  the  divine  life,  is  animated  and  led 
by  the  Spirit  of  God ;  and  from  it  will  securely 
proceed  the  purification  of  the  whole  life,  both  in 
knowledge  and  practice.  Thus  the  Saviour,  com- 
paring himself  to  the  vine  and  believers  to  its 
branches  (John  xv.  i  ff.),says  that  these  branches 
are  to  be  more  and  more  cleansed  in  order  that 
they  may  bring  forth  the  more  fruit.  That  is : 
believers,  abiding  in  fellowship  with  him,  will 
thereby  continue  to  partake  of  the  divine  life  dif- 
fused from  him  through  all  his  members ;  and  be- 
ing thus,  in  the  divinely  ordained  and  directed 
development  of  that  life,  more  and  more  purified 
from  the  foreign  and  undivine  which  still  obstructs 
it,  will  bring  forth  more  and  more  of  its  fruits  in 
their  whole  life  and  conduct.  This  then  is  ap- 
plicable to  all  such,  as  through  adherence  to  that 
one  radical  fact  are  branches  of  the  true  vine; 
and  in  them  will  be  experienced,  in  their  faith, 
views,  and  practice,  the  quickening  energy  of  that 
divine   life,  which   spreads  from  the   vine-stock 


244 

througli  all  tlie  branclies,  cleansing  away  all  that 
is  foreign. 

But  wliile  John  presents  both  the  affirmative 
and  negative  aspect  of  this  characteristic  mark,  it 
is  here  his  special  object  to  enforce  the  negative  ; 
to  warn  against  all  manifestations  of  that  spirit 
which  does  not  acknowledge  this  radical  fact,  1)iit 
either  denies  or  mutilates  it.  Whoever  so  tauiiht 
was  to  be  at  once  rejected.  No  other  mark  foi- 
the  designation  of  the  undivine,  the  autichristiau, 
the  false,  should  be  needed  for  the  believer.  In 
all  such  manifestations  the  Apostle  recognizes  the 
spirit  of  Antichrist,  whose  culminating  point,  self- 
deification,  was  to  precede  the  triumphant  revela- 
tion of  Christ  in  the  last  time.  In  all  which  de- 
nies or  mutilates  this  one  ground-fiict,  he  bids  us 
discern  the  tokens  of  that  approaching  Antichrist, 
whose  spirit  is  thus  shown  to  be  already  in  the 
world  and  preparing  for  his  full  manifestation. 
He  calls  upon  believers  to  watch  for,  and  at  once 
and  totally  to  reject,  all  such  manifestations  ;  lest, 
being  gradually  drawn  aside  from  the  one  founda- 
tion, and  yielding  themselves  to  the  delusions  of 
that  antichristian  spirit,  they  might  at  length  come 
wholly  under  its  dominion. 


245 

Having  thus  taught  how  to  distinguish  the  rev 
elations  of  the  spirit  which  is  from  God, 

[Ch.  iv.  4-6. 

and  of  that  which  is  not  from  God ;  the 
Apostle  holds  out  a  solace  for  believers  under  their 
ct)nflicts  with  the  representatives  of  that  uugodly 
spirit:  "Ye  are  of  God,  little  children,  and  have 
overcome  them ;  because  greater  is  he  that  is  in 
you,  than  he  that  is  in  the  world.  They  are  of 
the  world  :  therefore  speak  they  of  the  world,  and 
the  world  heareth  them.  We  are  of  God:  he 
that  knoweth  God,  heareth  us ;  he  that  is  not  of 
God,  heareth  not  us.  Hereby  know  we  the  spirit 
of  truth,  and  the  spirit  of  error." 

Truth  and  Error  have  each  their  peculiar  his- 
tory of  development.  As  in  the  continued  de- 
velopment of  christian  truth,  the  Holy  Spirit  is 
ev^er  revealing  itself  in  the  inward  consciousness 
of  the  believer, — that  Anointing  spoken  of  by 
John  ;  so  does  Error,  proceeding  side  by  side  with 
this  revelation,  mingle  therewith  its  own  disturb- 
ins:  and  adulterating^  influence, — rendinof  sinofle 
truths  from  their  connection  with  the  whole  sys- 
tem of  truth,  and  giving  them  the  stamp  of  error. 
These  are  the  two  currents,  proceeding  from  the 
ever  operative  spirit  of  Christ  and  from  the  spirit 


246 

of  the  world  ;  the  latter  mingling  witli  the  revela- 
tions of  the  former  its  own  disturbing  element, 
and  imitating  them  with  a  deceptive  outward 
seeming.  If  w^e  compare  the  Johannic  with  the 
Pauline  age,  we  shall  perceive,  notwithstanding 
the  common  foundation  on  which  the  church  rests 
and  the  common  participation  of  the  Holy  Spirit, 
that  each  period  had  its  own  peculiar  contrarieties 
of  truth  and  error.  So  must  we  in  every  period 
seek  to  distinguish, by  the  light  of  the  divine  word, 
what  proceeds  from  the  Spirit  of  Christ  and  what 
from  an  unchristian  Spirit  of  the  Age,  disguising 
itself  under  the  outward  appeal  ance  of  (Jlii-istian- 
ity.  As  then,  the  higher  conception  of  tlie  essen- 
tial nature  of  our  Loi-d  Jesus  Christ's  person,  the 
truth  respecting  the  incarnate  Word,  received  a 
special  development  through  John,  and  a  wider 
diffusion  of  light  on  this  important  subject  of 
christian  knowledge  distinguished  the  Johannic 
age ;  so  also  was  this  development  of  christian 
truth  accompanied  and  corrupted  by  the  one-sided 
conception  of  the  anti-christian  spirit.  Every  form 
of  error  has  its  time  ;  and  it  is  owing  to  the  pe- 
culiarity of  the  time,  that  certain  errors  especially 
predominate.    Those  who  still  adhere  to  the  whole 


247 

simple  truth,  may  be  perplexed  at  seeing  these 
fiioi's  increasing  with  seemingly  irresistible  power, 
aiul  perverting  many  from  the  pure  truth.  This 
was  the  case  in  the  age  of  John.  As  the  peculiar- 
ity of  Paul's  time  was  the  judaistic  tendency,  min- 
gling law  and  gospel  together,  and  seeking  to  bind 
Christianity  within  the  limits  of  the  old  dispensa- 
tion;  so  in  the  Johannic  age,  it  was  this  cori'up- 
tion  of  the  pure  doctrine  of  the  person  of  Clirist. 
Then  were  brewing  the  elements,  which  bui-st  fort  li 
unrestrained  in  the  agitations  pf  the  second  century. 
John  seeks  to  inspire  those,  who  might  be  thus 
})erplexed,  witk  courage  and  confidence.  He  be- 
gins with  reminding  them  that  they  are  born  of 
God,  that  the  Spirit  of  God  dwells  and  works  in 
them,  is  their  teacher,  uses  them  as  his  instruments 
to  testify  of  the  truth  which  he  has  made  known 
to  them.  Hence,  comparing  them  with  the  teach- 
ers of  error,  he  draws  the  conclusion  :  "  Ye  have 
overcome  them."  lie  does  not  say.  Ye  shall  over- 
come ;  but  represents  this  as  a  fact  already  real- 
ized. Inasmuch,  namely,  as  they  are  the  children 
of  God  and  are  led  l»y  him,  they  have  thei'eby  in 
fact  already  overcome  those  who  are  animated  by 
the  opposite  spirit.    It  is  tliat  victory  of  the  diviiie 


248 

over  all  that  is  imdivine,  whicli  is  inherent  in  tlie 
very  relation  of  the  one  to  the  other,  as  represent- 
ed by  the  Apostle  himself:  For  a  Greater,  a 
Mightier,  is  he  who  dwells  and  works  in  you,  than 
he  that  is  workino^  in  the  God-estrano-ed  world. 
God  is  mightier  than  the  undivine  spirit,  and 
against  him  it  cannot  prevail.  In  the  assurance  of 
the  victory  of  God's  omnipotence,  over  all  which 
arrays  itself  against  him,  they  are  assured  that, 
virtually,  they  have  Already  overcome  their  ad- 
versaries. This  anticipated  victory  of  christian 
truth  over  anti-christian  error,  requires  indeed 
time  for  its  realization.  Their  faith  must  outstrip 
the  course  of  history;  and  in  the  assurance  offiiith, 
they  even  now  possess  the  certain  decision  of  the 
conflict.  They  may  look  into  the  future  with 
cheerful  confidence,  since  the  final  result  is  already 
present  to  their  christian  consciousness.  The 
course  of  history  only  bi-ings  that  to  Uglit,  which 
is  inherent  in  the  very  i-elation  of  the  spirit,  by 
which  they  are  animated,  to  that  which  animates 
their  adversaries.  These  adversaries  they  would 
never  be  able  to  overcome,  had  they  not,  by  vir- 
tue of  that  inward  relation,  overcome  them  already. 
That  they  have  already  overcome, — this  is  the  very 


249 


thing  wliich  is  to  be  inade  manifest.  When  Jesus 
bids  his  disciples  be  of  good  cheer,  it  is  not  because 
he  will  overcome  the  world,  but  because  he  has 
already  overcome.  (John  xvi.  33.)  By  his  re 
deeming  life  and  sufferings  he  has,  once  for  all, 
broken  the  might  of  Evil.  Its  kingdom  is  hence- 
forth as  if  it  were  not.  It  may  still  prevail  in 
many  forms ;  yet  this  is  but  a  passing  show. 

Christ,  then,  having  once  for  all  overcome  tlie 
world,  believers  are  the  witnesses  of  this  his  vic- 
tory, the  instruments  by  which  it  is  to  be  spread 
throughout  the  world.     Now  in  this  assurance  of 
having  overcome  their  adversaries,  it  is  implied 
that  they  are  themselves  assured  in  the  trutli  ; 
that  unmoved  by  these  assaults  they  stand  firm, 
while  all  around  them  wavers ;  that  they  confi- 
dently look  forward  to  the  full  and  final  triumph 
of  truth  in  the  world.     But  it  by  no  means  fol- 
lows, that  their  adversaries  will  be  so  overcome, 
as  that  they  themselves  shall  be  convinced  of  their 
errors  and  abandon  them.     For  this  is  something 
which  cannot  be  forced  upon  man  from  without. 
It  depends  upon  his  own  free  susceptibility,  his 
own  free  submission  to  that  spirit  which  animates 
the  preachers  of  the  truth.     Hence  they  are  not 


250 

unsettled  and  perplexed,  when,  for  the  moment, 
error  prevails  to  an  extraordinary  degree  in  the 
world.  The  Apostle  shows,  that  this  cannot  be 
otherwise.  There  is,  he  says,  no  agreement  pos- 
sible between  them  and  their  adversaries.  What 
belons^s  to  the  inner  nature  cannot  but  come  forth 
to  light;  the  spirit,  the  temper  of  mind,  cannot 
but  express  itself.  As  is  the  tree,  so  is  its  fruit. 
Those  false  prophets,  says  the  Apostle,  belong  in 
their  spirit,  their  inward  temper,  to  the  world. 
Hence  they  teach  what  corresponds  to  this  worldly 
spirit  and  temper ;  their  earthliness  of  mind  is 
mirrored  in  tlieir  teaching.  So  long  as  they  are 
thus  minded,  it  cannot  be  otherwise  ;  and  all  at- 
tempts to  convince  them  of  their  errors,  will  be 
repelled  by  the  adverse  tendency  of  their  spirit. 

By  this  he  also  explains,  how  it  is  that  with  so 
many  they  find  admission.  The  world  eagerly 
receives  that  which  is  kindred  to  its  own  spirit. 
Thus  is  brought  to  light  the  essential  contrariety 
between  those  who  are  of  God  and  those  who  are 
of  the  world.  Those  who  in  spirit  and  temper 
belong  to  the  world  have  no  susceptibility  for  the 
divine,  and  cannot  receive  what  is  made  known  by 
those  who  are  animated  by  the  Spij-it  of  God,  the 


251 

teachers  of  divine  truth.  But,  "  he  that  knoweth 
God,  heareth  us."  The  knowing  of  God  might 
here  mean  that  general  preparatory  connection 
with  him,  of  such  as  feel  the  drawing  of  the 
Father  by  which  they  are  led  to  the  Son,  and  tlius 
show  a  susceptibility  for  the  pure  divine  trutli. 
But  it  may  also  apply  to  those  who  are  already 
grounded  in  the  christian  faith,  and  remain  true 
to  the  christian  knowledge  which  they  have  re- 
ceived; and  hence  are  able  to  recognize  and  to 
distinguish  the  genuine  preachers  of  truth,  by 
whom  they  are  led  on  still  farther  in  christian 
knowled2re.  The  attitude  thus  taken,  towards 
teachers  of  truth  and  teachers  of  error,  becomes  a 
sifting  process  among  christians  themselves;  sep- 
arating those  who  are  truly  born  of  God,  who  in 
spirit  form  the  opposite  to  the  world,  and  those 
who  still  belong  to  the  world  although  externally 
united  to  the  christian  church.  Thus,  in  this  sift- 
ing process,  is  manifested  the  inherent  essential 
contrariety  between  the  spirit  of  truth  and  the 
spirit  of  error,  between  the  undivine  spirit  and  the 
spirit  of  God. 

From   belief,  the    Apostle   again   turns  to  its 
practical   application  to  the  life ;  and  here  again 


252 

lie  refers  all  back  to  Love,  as  the  animating  prin- 
ciple of  the  christian  life.     His  lano^uasfe 

Cb.  iv.  7,  8.]      /  ,  ^       ,  ^  ^      ^ 

rises  with  this  view  to  a  loftier  tone :  "  Be- 
loved, let  us  love  one  another:  for  love  is  of  God  ; 
and  every  one  that  loveth  is  born  of  God,  and 
knoweth  God.  He  that  loveth  not,  knoweth  not 
God ;  for  God  is  love." 

This  is  not  a  command  to  love.  It  is  not  the 
Apostle's  aim  to  bring  befoi'e  believers  new  mo- 
tives to  mutual  love.  His  aim  is  this:  to  show 
them  what  must  necessarily  follow  from  a  certain 
presupposed  fact;  the  necessary  mark  of  a  certain 
existing  state ;  the  effect  which  cannot  fail  wlien 
the  cause  from  which  it  proceeds  is  actually  ]»r(s- 
ent.  He  would  produce  in  them  the  conviction, 
that  just  so  certainly  as  they  are  the  children  of 
(jod,  as  life  from  God  exists  in  them ;  so  certainly 
must  this  reveal  itself  in  mutual  love.  The  want 
of  this  love  would  show  that  they  w^ere  not  chil- 
dren of  God, — that  life  from  God  was  not  in  them. 
The  proof  he  adduces,  that  as  children  of  God 
they  must  love  one  another,  is  this :  love  is  from 
God,  and  therefore  every  one  who  loves  is  born 
of  God.  Love  is  here  represented  as  something- 
divine,  something  which  points  back  to  the  eternal 


253 

fountain  of  love  in  God,  a  ray  of  divine  life.  It  is 
love  which  constitutes  the  absolute  opposite  to  the 
life,  to  the  stand-point,  of  the  natural  man  ;  to  that 
which  is  supreme  in  him,  when  his  whole  nature 
has  completely  developed  and  expressed  itself. 
The  natural  man  makes  Self  the  centre  and  end 
of  all.  Love  impels  man  to  go  beyond  self,  to  re- 
nounce self ;  to  make  the  interests  of  others  his 
own,  to  share  with  them  all  that  hs  has,  to  give 
himself  to  them,  to  live  for  them. 

Where  now  something  of  this  imj)ulse  is  present 
in  the  soul,  man  thereby  makes  himself  known 
as  the  image  of  God  ;  it  is  a  mark  of  that  higher 
life  which  proceeds  from  God.  Single  instance's 
of  such  love  may  be  found,  we  admit,  even  where 
that  life  from  God  w^hich  John  describes  does  not 
yet  exist,  where  the  birth  from  God  ■  has  not  yet 
taken  place.  Still,  even  these  bear  witness  of  a 
power  which  is  foreign  to  the  natural  man  as  such, 
— a  ray  from  the  primeval  Source,  a  mark  of  divine 
lineage.  As  such  we  cannot  but  recognize  them, 
whether  derived  from  the  new  divine  life  intro- 
duced by  Christ  into  the  world,  from  the  general 
influence  of  society  and  education, — through  which 
many  divine  impressions  from  Chiist  may  have 


254 

been  received,  by  such  as  have  never  yet  opened 
their  hearts  to  his  influence, — or  whether  we  find 
them  existing  apart  from  all  connection  with  Chris- 
tianity. In  either  case,  we  cannot  but  discern  in 
them  the  features  of  that  image  of  God,  which, 
though  obscured  by  sin,  still  gleams  out  through 
darkness ;  the  marks  of  that  original  divine  lineage, 
of  that  general  connection  with  the  God  in  whom 
we  live  and  move  and  have  our  being. 

In  this  passage,  however,  the  apostle  is  not 
speaking  of  such  emotions,  breaking  forth  singly 
in  opposition  to  the  prevailing  selfishness ;  but  of 
a  state,  wherein  this  love  is  the  governing  prin- 
ciple of  life.  This  is  what  he  designates  as  the 
necessary  mark  of  children  of  God,  since  love  is 
from  God;  and  hence,  where  this  love  is  the  ruling 
and  animating  principle,  it  is  evidence  that  its 
possessor  has  this  principle  from  God,  is  born  of 
God.  We  have  often  observed,  that  in  the  Apos- 
tle's view  all  true  knowledge  of  God  proceeds  fi-ora 
the  life,  the  fellowship  of  life  with  God.  So  alsD 
here,  "  being  born  of  God,"  and  "  knowing  God," 
are  classed  together.  To  the  affirmative  declara- 
tion he  immediately  subjoins  the  negative,  drawn 
from  the  same  premises ;  viz.  that  he  who  loves 


255 

not  is  far  from  knowing  God,  from  being  in  union 
with  him.  He  had  before  said,  that  love  is  from 
God ;  thereby  referring  to  him  as  the  primal  source 
of  all  love.  But  he  now  goes  farther  and  says : 
God  is  love.  Love  is  his  essential  nature ;  God 
and  Love  are  coincident  terms.  Love  absolutely, 
whose  essential  nature  is  to  love,  whence  therefore 
all  love  proceeds,  is  the  designation  of  God  himself 
It  is  a  thought  full  of  meaning,  which  the 
Apostle  here  expresses.  He  indicates  thereby, 
that  Love  is  the  clearest  embodiment  which  we 
can  vision  to  ourselves  of  the  incomprehensible 
God.  It  is  personal  spirit  only  that  is  capable  of 
love.  To  an  impersonal  existence  love  cannot  be 
ascribed  ;  unless  something  else  is  understood  by 
the  name,  than  what  it  is  adapted  to  express. 
When  God  is  represented  as  Love,  we  are  led 
thereby  to  regard  him  as  the  Being,  from  whose 
nature  it  is  inseparable  to  reveal  and  to  impart 
himself,  to  diffuse  beyond  himself  the  bliss  which 
he  enjoys.  Inasmuch  as  he  is  himself  the  sum  of 
all  excellence,  the  highest  good,  he  must  first  be 
himself  the  object  of  his  love.  Thereby  begat  he 
the  all-perfect  likeneas  of  himself,  the  only-begot- 
ten Son,  who  is  the  object  of  his  absolute  love. 


256 

Such  is  the  import  of  Christ's  own  language,  in 
his  prayer  as  High  Priest  of  his  people.  (John 
xvii.  24.)  Knowing  himself  to  be  one  with  that 
Eternal  Effluence  of  the  divine  glory  ;  and  feeling 
himself  called  as  man  to  a  share  in  that  glory,  l)e- 
cause  of  the  Eternal  Word  dwelling  in  and  ani- 
mating him  ;  he  speaks  in  that  prayer  of  the  glory 
which  the  Father's  love  had  bestowed  upon  him, 
before  the  foundation  of  the  world.  This  love 
moved  him,  for  the  purpose  of  revealing  and  im- 
parting himself,  to  bring  into  existence  the  whole 
creation ;  in  which  every  being  is  by  itself  a  reve- 
lation of  God  as  Love,  while  each  enjoys  its  own 
appropriate  measure  of  happiness.  Hence  too  he 
created,  as  the  aim  and  end  of  all  creation  beside, 
rational  beings  for  whose  sake  he  would  thus  reveal 
himself;  who  were  themselves  adapted  in  their 
nature  to  receive  this  his  revelation  from  without, 
to  become  j^f^rtakers  of  his  self-communication, 
to  enter  into  fellowship  with  him,  to  receive  into 
themselves  his  image,  and  to  reflect  it  in  their  con- 
duct. Love  moved  him,  when  man  had  estranged 
himself  from  this  his  highest  destiny,  to  send  the 
dearest  object  of  his  love,  the  only-begotten  Son 
himself,  to  appear  in  human  nature ;  and  to  be- 


257 

stow  him  in  whom  he  thus  appeared,  wholly  upon 
man.  He  too,  as  being  the  all-perfect  image  of 
him  in  whom  God  had  from  eternity  mirrored 
himself,  now  becomes  the  absolute  object  of  hi? 
love  in  humanity ;  that  love  which  extends  itself 
from  him  who  is  the  eternal  Effluence  of  the  divine 
glory,  upon  him  who  is  the  Effluence  of  that  glory 
in  time  and  in  humanity.  He  is  therefore  called, 
absolutely,  the  beloved  Son  of  the  Father,— He 
in  whom  the  Father  is  well-pleased.  This  can  be 
said  of  no  other ;  since  only  that  which  perfectly 
presents  to  the  Father  his  own  image,  that  wherein 
he  beholds  himself,  can  be  absolutely  the  object 
of  his  complacency.  And  from  him  the  love  of 
God  extends  itself  to  all  who  stand  in  fellowship 
with  him,  T^ho  reflect  his  image  as  it  is  more  and 
more  actualized  in  them,  and  who  to  the  Father's 
all-foreseeing  eye  appear  as  already  bearing  his 
image,  as  entirely  one  with  him.  In  him  we  have 
the  perfect  revelation  of  God  as  Love;  in  his 
whole  manifestation,  in  his  life  and  death,  we  learn 
to  know  God  as  Love. 

To  the  revelation  thus  made  in  humanity,  of 
God  as  Love,  the  Apostle  then  refers  in 

[Ch.  iv.  9-10 

the   succeeding   words,     "In    this  was 
17 


258 

manifested  the  love  of  God  towards  us,  because 
that  God  sent  his  only-begotten  Son  into  the 
world,  that  we  might  live  through  him.  Herein 
is  love,  not  that  we  loved  God,  but  that  he  loved 
us,  and  sent  his  Son  to  be  the  propitiation  [recon- 
ciliation] for  our  sins." 

Here,  overlooking  all  else,  Jolm  fixes  his  eye 
upon  that  highest  fact,  in  w^hich  the  love  of  God 
reveals  itself  most  gloriously ;  his  love  toward 
those,  who  after  being  by  this  love  made  capable 
of  its  highest  communications,  being  created  in  its 
image,  had  rendered  themselves  unworthy  of  it. 
To  a  world  of  sin,  thus  alienated  from  the  God  of 
love,  he  gave  that  highest  gift, — Him  who  is 
called,  as  no  other  can  be,  the  Son  of  God, — that 
through  him  he  might  bestow  on  the»  sinful  race 
of  man  that  high  destiny  for  which  it  was  created, 
and  which  it  had  lost  through  its  own  guilt ;  to 
impart  to  the  dead  in  sin  that  true  blissful  life, 
which  should  endure  forever.  In  this  fact,  says 
John,  we  perceive  the  true  nature  of  love.  It 
was  not  our  love  to  God,  that  called  forth  a  re- 
turn of  love  in  him.  IIis  own  love  moved  him  to 
that  highest  proof  of  love,  to  send  his  Son  into 
the  world,  that  those  who  were  alienated  from 


259 


him  by  sin,  and  through  sin  arrayed  against  him 
the  Holy  One,  might  he  rescued  from  this  state 
of  ruin, — to  send  him  to  be  the  reconciliation  for 
our  sins.     From  these  words  it  is  evident,  that  we 
are  not  so  to  conceive  of  this  reconciliation,  as  if 
God  the  hater   of  men   as  sinners  had  now,  at 
this  particular  time,  become  reconciled  to  them 
through  Christ.     On  the  contrary,  the  work  of 
reconciliation  presupposes  that  love  in  God,  which 
moved  him  to  adopt  this  plan,  to  be  actualized  at 
an  appointed  period ;  the  eternal  love  of  God  as 
the  ground,  not  the  result,  of  this  reconciliation. 
Hence  also,  the  New  Testament  never  speaks  of  a 
reconciliation  of  God  with  man,  but  only  of  a 
reconciliation  of  man  with  God ;  indicating  that 
God,  as  love,  ever  desires  to  impart  himself  to 
man,  that  the  hindrance  is  in  man  himself.     To 
those  who  are  estranged  from  God  by  sin,  he 
must,  from  the  relation  which  they  consciously 
hold  to  him,  appear  as  the  angry  Judge,  whose 
just  vengeance  they  have  incurred.     Since  then, 
no  man  was  capable  of  raising  himself  out  of 
himself  into  another  relation  to   God,  the   hin- 
drance must  first  be  removed  by  God  himself; 
and  the  medium,  through  which  this  was  effected, 


260 

is  called  by  John  the  reconciliation  for  sin,  the 
sin-offering  for  man. 

It  is  plain,  therefore,  that  the  changed  relation 
to  God  of  which  man  becomes  conscious,  presup- 
poses a  divine  act  independent  of  himself,  where- 
by this  has  been  made  possible.  To  this  also 
pointed  the  sin-offering  in  the  Old  Testament,  to 
which  John  seems  to  allude.  It  was  intended  to 
awaken  in  the  human  spirit  the  conviction,  that 
no  man  is  of  himself  able  to  close  that  gulf,  which 
separates  the  sinner  from  God.  As  God  is  love, 
so  also  is  He  holiness  ;  as  is  taught  by  John  when 
he  says,  that  God  is  Light,  excluding  all  darkness, 
— meaning  that  he  is  Holiness,  excluding  all  evil. 
As  The  Holy,  he  reveals  himself  in  a  moral  gov- 
ernment of  the  world  corresponding  to  his  holi- 
ness. This  requires  a  perfect  actualization  of  the 
holy  law  by  man ;  only  on  this  condition,  can  the 
holy  God  impart  himself  to  humanity  in  the  reve- 
lations of  his  love,  can  come  into  fellowship  with 
it,  can  become  to  it  the  fountain  of  bliss,  of  eter- 
nal life.  But  to  this  stands  opposed  the  universal 
prevalence  of  sin  in  man.  Hence  Christ,  the  Holy, 
must  perform  for  all  what  they  cannot  themselves 
perform ;  must  restore  harmony  in  God's  moral 


261 

government,  by  himself  satisfying  its  demands  on 
man.  In  tlie  laws  of  this  moral  government,  the 
connection  of  sin  with  misery  as  the  punishment 
of  sill,  was  forever  fixed.  Christ  as  man,  in  ac- 
tualizing the  holy  law,  submitted  himself  to  its 
conditions  in  this  respect  also, — to  this  connection 
of  sin  and  misery,  which  weighed  down  the  hu- 
man race.  In  his  suffering,  he  took  upon  himself 
their  guilt  and  made  it  his  own ;  his  all-devoting 
love  entered  into  the  whole  feeling  of  man's  guilt 
and  wretchedness  ;  as  expressed  in  that  cry,  when, 
in  the  fulness  of  his  sympathy  for  humanity,  he 
felt  himself  one  with  it  in  its  load  of  guilt :  My 
God,  my  God,  why  hast  thou  forsaken  me  !  All 
which  men  had  to  bear  he  took  upon  himself,  and 
in  his  holy  life  and  sufferings,  imparted  to  them 
all  that  was  his.  This  it  is  which  constitutes  the 
turning  point  in  the  relation  of  man  to  God  ;  that 
whereby  sin  ceases  to  be  the  separating  wall  be- 
tween man  and  God, — the  reconciliation  (expia- 
tion) for  sin,  as  it  is  termed  by  the  Apostle. 
Herein  we  perceive  the  true  nature  of  holy  love. 
Having  thus  spoken  of  the  revelation  of  God's 
love    in    the    reconciliation    effected   by 

•^    [Ch.iv.  IL 

Christ,  the  Apostle  again   makes  a  per- 


262 

sonal  appeal  to  believers :  "  Beloved,  if  God  so 
loved  us,  we  ought  also  to  love  one  another."  Such 
love  in  God,  the  Apostle  would  say,  must  beget 
in  those  who  have  experienced  it  a  return  of  love. 
But  this  love,  enkindled  by  the  revelation  of  the 
redeeming  love  of  God,  must  manifest  itself  in  mu- 
tual love,  on  the  part  of  those  who  are  conscious  of 
being  objects  of  God's  love,  of  having  experienced 
it  in  themselves.  From  the  consciousness  of  this 
love  of  God  to  believers,  must  necessarily  spring  mu- 
tual love  towards  each  other.  It  is  one  holy  flame 
of  love,  passing  over  from  God  to  man,  and  extend- 
ing itself  to  their  mutual  i-elation  to  one  another. 
In  connection  with  the  declaration  that  God  is 
himself  love,  the  Apostle  sets  forth  the 
high  import  of  love  as  the  bond  of  fellow- 
ship between  God  and  man  :  "  No  man  hath  seen 
God  at  any  time.  If  we  love  one  another,  God 
dwelleth  in  us,  and  his  love  is  perfected  in  us." 
In  the  words,  "  no  one  hath  seen  God,"  must  be 
contained  the  reason,  why  it  is  only  through  love 
we  can  be  certain  of  his  dwelling  in  us.  "  Us,"  we 
may  regard  as  meaning  the  whole  body  of  the 
church.  "  Seeing,"  we  may  first  take  in  the  sense 
of  bodily  sight.    We  become  conscious  of  the  pres- 


263 

ence  of  a  visible  being,  by  seeing  him  among  us.  But 
the  invisible  God  cannot  be  so  united  with  us.  He 
Cciuuot  dwell  visibly  among  us;  there  can  be  no 
visible  manifestation  of  deity,  such  as  was  expected 
by  the  Jews  and  was  once  desired  by  Philip.  (John 
xiv.  8.)  What  John  would  say,  therefore,  is  this  : 
No  one  has  ever  seen  God  by  the  bodily  sense ;  a 
denial  which,  in  John's  mode  of  expression,  in- 
volves the  assertion  that  he  cannot  thus  be  seen. 

It  follows,  therefore,  that  the  church  can  be 
united  to  the  invisible  God  only  by  a  spiritual 
bond;  and  only  thereby  can  have  the  assurance 
that  he  abides  with  and  in  them,  that  he  dwells 
in  continued  fellowship  with  them.  And  this 
spiritual  bond  is  Love.  As  God  is  love  itself,  and 
all  love  radiates  from  him  ;  so  must  the  union  of 
the  church  with  him  be  manifested  hereby,  that 
he  works  in  them  as  the  spirit  of  love,  that  Love 
rules  in  them  as  the  animating  principle. 

If,  however,  we  compare  other  expressions  of 
John,  it  becomes  a  question  whether  the  word 
''  seeing"  is  to  be  taken  here  in  the  sense  of  bodily 
sight.  He  is  accustomed,  as  we  observed  above, 
to  express  by  the  original  Greek  word,  likewise  a 
spiritual  beholding,  perfect,  immediate  knowledge. 


264 

In  this  sense  he  says  (John  i.  18),  "  ISTo  man  hath 
seen  God  at  any  time ;  the  only-begotten  Son, 
who  is  in  the  bosom  of  the  Father,  he  hath  de- 
clared him."  If  now  we  take  the  word  "  see"  as  it 
is  plainly  used  in  this  passage,  it  involves  still  more 
than  what  we  have  said :  viz.  that  no  man  has 
ever  had  an  immediate  perception  of  God,  has 
ever  attained  to  perfect  knowledge  of  him,  neither 
can  he  thus  be  known  by  men  on  earth.  We  can- 
not therefore  be  assured  of  union  with  him,  by  his 
having  become  to  us  an  object  of  perfect  knowl- 
edge. Did  it  depend  on  that,  he  would  remain 
forever  beyond  our  reach.  The  incomprehensible 
Essence,  no  one  has  known  or  can  know.  But  as 
God  s  love,  we  are  assured  of  union  with  him  and 
of  his  dwelling  in  us,  by  his  abiding  self-revelation 
among  us  as  love  ;  through  love  we  abide  in  union 
with  him  who  is  love.  In  love  we  have  his  true  es- 
sence, so  far  as  it  can  be  tiie  object  of  perception  to 
man  on  earth.  Union  with  God  through  love  pre- 
cedes that  peifect  vision  of  God,  promised  us  for 
the  life  which  is  eternal.  In  this  union  with  God 
through  love,  we  have  already  more  than  we  are 
able  to  develop  in  the  form  of  knowledge. 

Herein,  then,  is  contained  the  weighty  truth : 


265 

that  only  througli  love  we  can  become  conscious 
of  God,  can  be  convinced  of  the  reality  of  his  being 
and  nature, — love  being  in  itself  the  reflection  and 
the  product  of  his  nature.  And  hence  the  more  a 
man  has  shut  his  heart  against  love,  the  more  he 
is  sunk  in  selfishness,  the  less  can  he  know  of  God. 
But  genuine  love  to  God,  that  which  is  enkindled 
by  the  revelation  of  God's  love  to  believers,  and 
has  God  for  its  source,  can  only  attest  itself  as 
such  by  the  mutual  love  of  believers  for  each 
other,  since  this  is  its  necessary  working  and  effect. 
That  God,  through  his  indwelling  and  vitalizing 
love,  abides  in  union  with  believers,  means 

[Ch.  iv.  IS. 

the  same  as  that  his  Spirit  dwells  in  them : 
for  his  Spirit,  imparted  to  believers  through  Christ, 
is  itself  the  fountain  of  love  which  can  originate 
only  in  God,  the  Spirit  which  dwells  and  works  in 
God  himself  as  love.  They  cannot  be  conscious 
of  a  fellowship  of  spirit  with  him,  if  love,  the  mark 
of  that  spirit,  shows  not  its  living  agency  among 
them.  Hence  the  Apostle  appeals  to  their  expe- 
rience of  the  influences  of  the  Spirit  imparted  by 
God, — the  token  and  pledge,  that  as  they  continue 
to  surrender  themselves  to  fellowship  with  God, 
God  likewise  abides  in  inseparable  fellowship  with 


266 

tliem.  "Hereby  know  we  that  we  dwell  in  him 
and  lie  in  us,  because  he  hath  given  us  of  his 
Spirit." 

lie  now  returns  to  that,  which  he  ever  contem- 
plates as  the  ground  of  the  whole  Chris- 

Cl).  iv.  14-16.] 

tian  life  and  of  salvation,  the  ground 
of  the  whole  church  and  of  all  its  divine  inward 
experiences,  since  upon  this  depends  all  and  with 
this  is  given  all, — the  testimony  respecting  the 
Son  of  God,  whom  the  Father  has  sent  as  the  Sa- 
viour of  the  world.  Of  this  he  bears  testimony, 
with  the  confident  assurance  of  an  eye-witness : 
"  And  we  have  seen  and  do  testify,  that  the  Father 
sent  the  Son  to  be  the  Saviour  of  the  world."  But 
with  those  who  had  been  so  long  acquainted  with 
Christianity,  he  needed  not  to  appeal  merely  to 
his  own  sight  and  experience.  They  were  not  to  be 
dependent  upon  his  personal  testimony.  The  fact, 
to  which  ho  boi-e  witness,  must  long  since  have 
fully  attested  itself,  in  their  own  conscious  expe- 
rience of  fellowship  with  God  attained  thereby. 
But  he  would,  again  and  again,  impress  it  upon 
their  hearts,  that  firm  adherence  to  this  fiict  must 
ever  be  the  ground  of  all  true  fellowship  with 
God.     For  faith  he  then  substitutes  confession ; 


267 

since  faitli  must  approve  itself  by  an  open  con- 
fession of  tlie  Son  of  God,  without  fear  or  sliame, 
in   opposition  to   the  world  which   ignores   him 
and  hates  his  followers.     "  Whosoever  shall  con- 
fess that  Jesus  is  the  Son  of  God,  God  dwelleth 
in  him,  and  he  in  God."     Assuming  in  christians 
this  fellowship  with  God,  which  is  the  fruit  of  true 
adherence  to  faith  in  Jesus  as  the  Son  of  God,  he 
speaks  not  merely  from  his  own  personal  expe- 
rience, but  as  if  uttering  the  experience  of  all : 
"  And  we  have  known  and  believed  the  love  that 
God  hath  to  us.     God  is  love ;  and  he  that  dwell- 
eth in  love,  dwelleth  in  God,  and  God  in  him." 
The  Apostle  recognizes  a  reciprocal  relation  be- 
tween knowledge   and  faith.      The  divine   fact, 
which  is  the  object  of  faith,  must  be  in  a  certain 
manner  known  in  order  to  be  believed.     But  it  is 
by  receiving  through  faith  this  divine  fact  into  the 
heart  a,nd  making  it  properly  our  own,  that  we 
jBrst  become  truly  acquainted,  in  the  experiences 
of  the  inner  life,  with  the  object  of  faith ;  and 
therefrom  develops  itself  the  true  knowledge  of 
that  object,  not  as  something  external  to  the  spirit, 
but  as  being  through  this  inward  experience  a  part 
of  itself.    In  the  spirit  enlightened  by  faith,  knowl- 


268 

^Ige  is  developed  ;  and  f\iitli,  tbrougli  the  knowl- 
edge derived  from  this  inward  experience,  receives 
in  turn  a  higher  import.  We  believe  in  the  love 
of  God  toward  ns,  because  we  know  it  by  this  in- 
ward experience.  This  is  the  kind  of  knowledge 
here  meant.  But  in  thus  knowing  God's  love  for 
us,  we  come  to  know  God  himself;  and  in  that 
way  in  which  he  can  most  pei-fectly  be  known,  for 
his  nature  is  love. 

Abiding  in  love  is  represented  by  the  Apostle, 
as  the  condition  and  the  token  of  abiding  in  fel- 
lowship with  God.  By  love  he  doubtless  means, 
as  the  connection  shows,  primarily  the  love  of  God 
as  revealins:  itself  in  Christ  the  Saviour  of  the 
world,  and  making  itself  felt  in  the  hearts  of  be- 
lievers ;  and  as  then,  by  the  light  of  faith  becom- 
ing an  object  of  knowledge.  They  attain  to  a 
conscious  knowledge  of  that  which  is  their  life- 
element.  But  their  hearts  cannot  be  fdled  with 
this  overflowing  love  of  God,  without  producing 
in  return  that  love  to  God,  and  to  the  brethren, 
which  has  its  root  therein. 

The  Apostle  then  characterizes  the  habitual 
temper  of  mind,  which  exists  where 
this  abiding  in  the  love  of  God  has 


269 

reached  its  maturity.  "  Herein  is  our  love  made 
perfect,  that  we  may  have  boldness  [joyfulness] 
in  the  day  of  judgment ;  because  as  he  is,  so  are 
we  in  this  world.  There  is  no  fear  in  love ;  but 
perfect  love  casteth  out  fear :  because  fear  hath 
torment.  He  that  feareth,  is  not  made  perfect  in 
love."  This  fellowship  of  life  with  God  has  for  its 
fruit,  a  confidence  in  him,  undisturbed  by  fear. 
By  the  word  which  Luther  here  translates  "joy- 
fulness"  is  indicated  such  a  relation  to  another, 
as  allows  us  to  v/alk  with  him  in  free  familiar  con- 
verse, to  tell  him  without  reserve  all  that  is  in  oir 
hearts,  to  turn  to  him  in  all  our  concerns  witi. 
perfect  confidence.  Such  a  state  of  joyful  assured 
confidence,  disturbed  by  no  fear  no  apprehen- 
sion, in  which  under  all  circumstances  and  neces- 
sities we  turn  to  God,  is  the  one  here  indicated. 
Particularly  is  excluded  fear  in  view  of  a  future 
judgment  of  the  holy  God,  before  whom  no  sin 
can  find  allowance.  To  him  who  stands  in  this 
relation  to  God,  the  day  of  judgment  is  indeed 
ever  present;  and  it  is  no  false  or  light-minded 
security  by  which  he  is  raised  above  it.  But  that 
final  decision  has  for  him  no  such  terrors,  as  for 
those  who  have  in  God  a  stern  judge  to  fear;  who 


270 

feel  themselves  estranged  from  him  by  sin,  and  ^ 
are  therefore  conscious  of  the  wrath  of  God.  He 
looks  towards  that  day  with  joyful  confidence,  for 
he  knows  that  he  has  no  judgment  to  fear;  that 
through  the  love  of  God  revealed  to  him  in  Christ, 
of  which  he  has  the  assurance  in  his  inner  being, 
he  is  exempt  from  judgment.  True,  he  is  conscious 
of  still  inhering  sin.  He  has  a  sharper  eye  to 
detect  its  presence,  than  those  who  have  made  less 
advancement  in  the  development  of  the  christian 
life.  But  even  sin  has  for  him  lost  its  sting.  He 
knows  that  God  has  forgiven  him;  and  as  he  feels 
and  knows  himself  to  be  united  through  love  with 
the  God  who  is  love,  he  is  certain  also  that  this 
still  inhering  sin  can  no  longer  separate  him  from 
God  ;  and  that  God,  through  the  Spirit  which  he 
has  given  liim,  will  purify  him  more  and  more, 
will  carry  on  the  begun  work  to  its  completion. 
It  is  not  the  believer's  own  worthiness,  or  perfect- 
ness,  which  John  regards  as  the  ground  of  this 
confidence.  Were  that  the  foundation  of  his  trust, 
it  would  rest  on  a  very  frail  support,  soon  beti-ay- 
ing  its  worthlessness  under  the  temptations  aud 
conflicts  of  the  earthly  life.  It  has  an  immovable 
foundation, — the  revelation  of  the  love  of  God  iii 


2Y1 

Christ,  through  which  the  believer  knows  himself 
to  be  one  with  Christ.  Christ  is  indeed  in  heaven, 
and  the  believer  still  belongs  outwardly  to  earth. 
Yet,  through  his  oneness  with  Christ,  who  is  to 
him  as  present  as  if  still  living  on  earth,  he  is  con- 
scious that  he  stands  in  the  same  relation  to  God 
as  Christ  himself;  that,  belonging  to  Christ  as  a 
member  of  his  body,  he  can  no  more  be  separated 
from  God  than  Christ  himself;  that  in  him  he  has 
become  the  object  of  divine  love,  divine  compla- 
cency. And  thus,  in  Christ's  relation  to  God,  he 
has  the  pledge  of  his  own.  This  is  the  immovable 
ground  of  his  confidence. 

The  Apostle  here  contrasts  two  religious  states. 
The  one  is  this  fellowship  of  love,  of  sonship  to 
God  w^hich  has  its  root  in  Christ ;  when  as  a  child 
of  God,  man  is  conscious  of  holding  the  same  re- 
lation to  him,  which  Christ  as  Sou  bears  to  the 
Father.  In  the  other,  God  is  viewed  as  the  stern 
judge,  the  object  of  fear;  the  apprehension  of  di- 
vine punishment  weighs  down  the  spirit.  So 
elsewhere  in  the  New  Testament,  the  filial  relation 
to  God  and  the  slavish  relation  are  contrasted  with 
each  other.  It  is  true,  indeed,  that  where  this 
fellowship  of  love  has  already  commenced,  doubts 


272 

and  apprehensions,  arising  from  the  former  slavish 
relation,  may  still  miugle  in  it  their  disturbing  in- 
fluence. But  the  Apostle  points  out  a  stage  of 
the  christian  life  so  high,  where  love  has  so  gained 
the  preponderance,  that  fear  is  wholly  banished. 
No  terrors  of  impending  punishment  disturb  the 
joyful  confidence  in  God.  He  would,  indeed,  by 
no  means  banisb  that  holy  aw^e,  whicb  impels  him 
who  lives  in  the  consciousness  of  still  inhering  sin, 
to  watch  continually  over  himself,  to  shun  every- 
thing which  might  mar  his  fellowship  with  God. 
He  will  be  led  to  do  this,  by  the  power  of  that 
very  love  in  whicb  his  life  has  its  root ;  and  in 
this  there  is  no  "  torment,"  at  that  high  stage  of 
the  christian  life,  where  all  is  possible  to  Love. 
In  order  to  impress  on  christians  the  obligation 
of  brotherly-love,  John  a£:ain  reminds 

Ch.  iv.  19,  20.]  -^  ° 

them,  that  through  God's  love  to  them 
their  own  love  was  first  enkindled  ;  and  then  goes 
on  to  show,  that  in  love  to  God  is  necessarily  in 
volved  love  to  the  brethren.  "We  love  him  be- 
cause he  first  loved  us.  If  a  man  say,  I  love  God, 
and  hateth  his  brother,  he  is  a  liar :  for  he  that 
loveth  not  his  brother  whom  he  hath  seen,  how 
can  he  love  God  whom  he  hath  not  seenT 


2T3 

The  appeal  tlins  founded  on  that  conscior.3 
christian  fellowship,  to  which  both  he  and  his 
readers  have  been  admitted,  presupposes  this  love 
to  God  as  something  possessed  in  common,  origi- 
nating as  it  does  in  their  common  experience  of 
Crod's  redeeming  love.  But  so  certainly  as  this 
love  exists  among  them,  will  it  reveal  itself  as 
auch  in  its  effects.  It  is  easy  to  say,  I  love  God ; 
the  point  is,  that  this  love  should  manifest  itself 
by  its  unmistakable  signs  in  the  life.  The  witness 
to  this  presence  of  God's  love  in  men,  is  Broth- 
erly-love. He  who  says  he  loves  God,  and  yet 
hates  his  brother,  is  called  a  liar,  since  his  profes- 
sions are  proved  by  his  acts  to  be  lies ;  for  in 
John's  view,  hatred  of  one's  brother  and  love  to 
God  mutually  exclude  each  other.  We  must  here 
remember,  that  with  John  there  is  nothinsr  inter- 
mediate  bet  wen  love  and  hate ;  it  is  either  love 
to  the  brother,  or  hatred  of  the  brother.  With 
him  therefore,  "to  hate  the  brother,"  and  "not  to 
love,"  are  one  and  the  same ;  since  where  love  is 
wanting,  the  seliish  disposition  already  contains 
the  fferm  of  hate. 

But  is  it  not  strange  that  John  should  ask: 

How  can  he  who  loves  not  the  visible  brother, 
18 


274 

love  the  invisible  God  ?  For  lie  always  regards 
love  to  God  as  the  primary,  and  love  to  the 
brother  as  the  derived  affection  ;  self-sacrificing 
brotherly-love  as  originating  in  love  to  God,  that 
alone  being  able  to  overcome  the  selfish  principle 
in  man.  But  if  from  the  cause,  we  may  deduce 
its  necessary  and  spontaneous  effect ;  so  on  the 
other  hand,  from  the  effect  we  may  reason  back  to 
the  cause,  and  regard  the  effect  as  evidence  of  the 
cause.  Love  to  God  is  in  itself  an  invisible  act, 
seen  only  by  him  who  looks  upon  the  heart ;  but 
the  effects  of  this  love,  as  they  appear  outwardly, 
are  seen  by  man.  Whether  there  is  true  love  to 
God  must  be  determined,  therefore,  by  the  pres- 
ence or  absence  of  Brotherly-love.  Hence  John'^ 
conclusion :  How  can  I  believe  that  he  truly  loves 
God,  in  w^hom  I  see  not  the  visible  evidence  of 
this  love  ?  The  visible  here  bears  witness  of  the 
want  of  the  invisible.  And  moreover,  man  as  a 
creature  of  sense,  is  more  readily  affected  by  the 
visible  than  by  the  invisible.  If  we  conceive  of 
love  as  a  capacity  inherent  in  the  God-related  na- 
ture of  man,, and  pointing  back  to  its  primal 
Source  in  God  who  is  Love  ;  yet,  for  this  capacity 
to  raise  itself  to  the  Invisible  One,  more  is  required 


275 

than  to  awaken  it  into  action  through  the  impres* 
sion  made  by  his  visible  image  in  man.  How  ia 
the  invisible  object  of  love  to  exert  an  influence 
upon  him,  whom  the  visible  leaves  unaffected  ? 

Such  being  the  necessary  connection  between 
these  two  relations  of  love,  the  Apostle 

[Ch.  iv.  21,  V.  1. 

adds  :  "  And  this  commandment  have 
we  from  him.  That  he  who  loveth  God,  love  his 
brother  also.  Whosoever  believeth  that  Jesus  is 
the  Christ,  is  born  of  God :  and  every  one  that 
loveth  him  that  begat,  loveth  him  also  that  is  be- 
gotten of  him." 

This  necessary  connection  between  love  to  God 
and  Brotherly-love,  John  deduces  from  their  com- 
mon sonship  to  God,  from  the  equal  relation  of  all 
to  God,  and  their  inward  relationship  of  life  to 
one  another.  He  begins  with  faith, — faith  in  its 
true  import.  By  faith  he  understands,  not  what 
James  calls  a  dead  faith.  It  is  not  the  mere  ad- 
mission of  certain  historical  facts,  as  one  believes 
any  historical  narration  of  the  past,  without  being 
at  all  affected  thereby  in  his  inner  life.  It  is  not 
the  tenacious  adherence  to  certain  articles  of  faith, 
received  into  the  understanding  and  memory  as  a 
matter  of  custom ;  in  regard  to  which  the  liabil- 


276 

ity  to  doubt  is  less,  the  less  there  is  felt  of  a  living 
interest  in  them,  the  less  their  influence  penetrates 
below  the  mere  surface  of  the  spirit.  Faith, 
in  the  Johannic  sense,  presupposes  all  that  is  in 
volved  in  the  acknowledgment  of  Jesus  as  the 
Christ,  in  knowing  him  for  oui'selves  as  such.  It 
implies  the  recognition  of  the  Crucified  One,  as 
Sovereign  in  the  kingdom  of  God,  as  Redeemer 
from  sin.  There  is,  therefore,  implied  that  deej) 
conviction  of  sin  and  longing  for  deliverance  froir- 
it,  that  deep  feeling  of  the  necessity  of  redemption, 
without  which  faith  in  the  Redeemer  is  not  possi- 
ble. There  is  implied  faith  in  his  resurrection,  as 
the  divine  attestation  that  Jesus  the  Crucified  is 
the  Redeemer  of  sinful  man,  and  Sovereign  in  the 
kingdom  of  God  ;  in  his  ascension  to  heaven,  by 
virtue  of  that  glorified  divine  life,  exempt  fi'om 
the  conditions  of  mortality,  to  which  he  has  at- 
tained ;  in  his  continued  fellowship,  in  this  his 
glorified  superearthly  state,  with  believei*s  on 
earth.  In  this  faith  there  is  presupposed  true 
spiritual  fellowship  with  Christ.  For  f^iith  is 
nothing  else  than  that  conviction,  which,  having 
passed  through  every  stage,  from  the  sense  of  sin 
to    the   acknowledgment   of  Jesus   in   every  re- 


277 

vealed  relation,  embraces  in  itself  the  sum  of 
all ;  tlie  act  whereby  the  soul,  renouncing  itself, 
and  joyfully  accepting  the  offered  union  with  this 
Jesus  as  its  Redeemer  and  Lord,  gives  itself 
wholly  away  to  him,  that  it  may  belong  no  more 
to  itself  but  to  him  alone.  Hence,  of  every  one 
who  believes  in  this  sense,  John  says,  that  he  is 
EOEN  OF  God.  This  he  regards  as  something 
which  cannot  proceed  from  the  life  inherent  in  the 
spirit  itself;  which  can  only  be  the  result  of  a  di- 
vine power  entering  the  heart,  a  work  of  God  in 
man,  a  divine  fact.  Where  this  has  taken  place, 
there  must  exist  a  divine  life  ;  for  it  is  that  where- 
by the  being,  hitherto  wholly  centred  in  himself 
and  sunk  in  earthliness,  receives  a  new  existence 
whose  fountain  and  root  is  in  God,  becomes  in  the 
true  sense  a  new  man  born  of  God.  As  man,  by 
natural  birtb,  enters  the  world  and  takes  his  place 
among  the  beings  who  belong  to  it ;  so  by  this  fact 
is  he  raised  to  a  wholly  new,  a  higher  existence. 
As  by  natural  descent,  the  son  derives  from  his 
father  a  being  like  his  own  and  reflects  his  image ; 
so  the  believer,  by  virtue  of  this  new  spiritual 
birth  from  God,  by  virtue  of  this  new  divine  life 
which  he  has  in  common  with  God  his  Father,  is 


278 

called  a  son  of  God.  And  thus  he  reflects,  by 
virtue  of  this  divine  life,  the  Father  from  whom 
it  proceeds.  Hence  John  says  that  he  who  loves 
God,  from  whom  this  divine  life  is  derived,  must, 
on  the  ground  of  this  same  descent,  this  relation- 
ship and  likeness,  love  him  also  who  is  born  of 
God,  in  whom  exists  this  same  divine  life.  In 
love  to  the  Source  of  the  divine  life,  is  necessarily 
included  love  to  all  who  are  partakers  with  us  in 
this  life.  All  who  are  united  in  this  fellowship  as 
children  of  God,  must  for  that  reason  feel  di-awn 
towards  each  other,  must  understand  and  love 
each  other,  as  in  no  other  relation  amoiiL;-  men. 
"By  this  we  know  that  we  love  the  children  of 
God,  when  we  love   God,  and   keep  his 

Ch.  V.  2,  3.] 

commandments.  For  this  is  the  love  of 
God,  that  we  keep  his  commandments."  As  love 
to  God  must  manifest  itself  in  love  to  the  brethren, 
so  must  it  also  in  obedience  to  the  divine  com- 
mands. All  these  are,  indeed,  summed  up  by  John 
in  the  one  command  whose  requirement  is  love, 
which  is  the  fulfilment  of  all. 

He  then  shows  what  it  is  which  imparts  to  be- 
lievers strength  to  fulfil  all  these  com- 

Ch.  V.  3-5.] 

mands.      "And  his   commandments  are 


279 

not  grievous  [difficult].  For  wliatsoever  is  born  of 
(i(»(I,  overcometli  the  world;  and  this  is  the  vic- 
tor}^ that  overcometli  the  world,  even  onr  faitli. 
Who  is  he  that  overcometli  the  world,  but  he  that 
believeth  that  Jesus  is  the  Son  of  God  ?" 

These  are  the  highest  of  all  commands,  those  in- 
stituted by  Christ  himself,  and  by  him  alone  per- 
fectly fulfilled  ;  the  commands  developed  by  him 
in  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount,  the  ground-traits  of 
an  all-transcending  holiness,  such  as  has  been 
i-eached  by  no  system  of  human  ethics,  and  before 
which  every  human  spirit  must  bow  in  deep  hu- 
mility. And  yet  we  hear  John  saying,  that  these 
commands  are  not  difficult.  But  as  the  highest 
of  all  moral  requirements,  they  should  be  the 
most  difficult  of  all.  How  then  are  we  to  under- 
stand it,  when  John  says  that  these  commands  are 
not  (bfficult?  He  must  himself  have  learned  by 
expeiience,  that  they  are  not  hard  to  obey.  Not 
in  the  commands  themselves,  not  in  their  relation 
to  other  moral  commands,  must  lie  the  ground  of 
his  assertion  ;  but  in  the  changed  position  of  man 
towards  the  divine  law.  AVhat  was  once  diffienlf, 
nay  impossible  ;  this  has  now,  ]»y  virtue  of  lii.s 
moral  transformation,  l^ecome  easv.     He  h;:n>elf 


280 

assigns  as  the  reason,  that  all  which  is  born  of 
God  overcomes  the  woi-ld.  From  the  fact  then, 
that  believers  have  received  strength  to  overcome 
the  world,  he  deduces  the  consequence  that  these 
commands  are  no  longer  difficult  for  them,  diffi- 
cult as  they  may  be  for  him  who  has  not  receive<l 
that  strength.  We  can  therefore  infer  from  this-, 
what  is  requisite  for  fulfilling  these  commands, 
which  is  the  victory  over  the  world.  Only  in  con- 
flict with  the  world  can  they  be  fulfilled.  What 
makes  their  fulfilment  difficult  to  man,  is  the  en- 
tanglement of  the  spirit  in  the  world  ;  the  power 
of  the  world  over  the  spirit,  the  worldly  bias,  the 
earthliness  of  spirit,  whereby  is  stifled  the  higher 
God-related  nature  of  man,  which  accords  with  the 
divine  law  and  for  which  that  law  exists.  The 
power  of  the  world,  is  the  power  of  all  that  is  not 
of  God.  To  him  whose  spirit  is  ruled  by  thn 
world,  who  feels  himself  drawn  to  the  world  and 
finds  in  it  his  highest  good,  to  him  the  commands 
of  God  appear  diflicult.  Since  now,  in  the  strength 
of  that  divine  life  which  believers  have  received 
the  i)Ower  is  giv(ui  which  overcomes  the  world 
John  says  that  all  which  is  born  of  God  overcomes 
tlie  world  ;  and  since,  through  this  world-conquer- 


281 

ing  power,  all  hindrances  to  the  fulfilment  of  the 
commands  are  easily  overcome,  he  says  that  for 
believers  these  commands  are  not  difficult.  They 
possess  the  power  whereby  the  difficult  is  made 
easy.  So  Christ  invites  to  himself  those  who  feel 
weighed  down,  who  cannot  breathe  freely,  by 
reason  of  the  burden  of  the  Law,  saying :  "  My 
yoke  is  easy  and  my  burden  is  light ;"  made  light 
by  fellowship  with  him,  by  the  power  which  he 
imparts. 

John  then  shows  what  it  is,  by  which  believei-s 
are  freed  from  the  power  of  the  world,  transformed 
from  children  of  the  world  to  children  of  God, 
made  partakers  of  the  divine  life,  and  thus  enabled 
to  overcome  the  world.  This  is  faith  in  Jesus  as 
the  Son  of  God.  It  is  worthy  of  note  that  he 
does  not  say:  faith  is  that  whereby  we  attain  the 
victory  over  the  world ;  nor,  faith  is  that  which 
will  overcome  the  world.  He  says:  f;iith  is  itself 
the  victory,  which  has  overcome  the  world.  In 
these  words  lies  a  deeper  meaning,  whose  full  im- 
port we  must  endeavor 'to  unfold. 

Faith  is  itself  a  victory  already  achieved  over 
the  world ;  it  has  its  being  only  as  a  victory  at- 
tained in  conflict  with  the  world.     For  when  the 


divine  drawing  in  the  heai't  of  man,  the  drawing 
of  the  Father  to  the  Son,  incites  hira  to  the  exer- 
ci(*e  of  faitli  ;  the  wlioh'  woild  then  rises  against 
liin),  to  hindei'  him  fi-oni  attaining:  faith.  AVhat 
in  man  is  of  the  world  and  is  in  union  with  the 
world,  resists  the  incipient  faith.  Hence  the  mani- 
fold counter-influences,  which  make  it  at  first  so 
hard  to  believe.  Hence  the  jiower  of  those  doubts, 
which  withstand  faith.  Thus  faith  itself  is  a  vic- 
tory over  the  world.  And  having  thus  come  into 
being  through  victoiy  over  the  world,  having  once 
for  all  overcome  the  world  ;  in  it  there  resides 
the  divine  power,  against  which  the  world  can 
effect  nothing.  Faith,  once  for  all,  has  overcome 
the  world  ;  and  therein  is  given  the  victory  which 
in  all  succeeding  conflicts  with  the  world,  attests 
itself  by  the  fulfilment  of  the  divine  commands. 
The  whole  subsequent  christian  life,  if  it  holds  fast 
the  faith  in  its  quiet  healthy  process  of  develop- 
ment, is  nothing  else  than  a  continuation  of  the 
victory  over  the  world  once  attained  in  faith.  As 
Christ,  in  the  words  already  quoted,  says  not  that 
he  WILL  but  that  he  has  overcome  the  world  (John 
xvi.  33),  and  bids  believers  rejoice  in  this  as- 
surance ;   so  faith,  by  virtue  of  fellowship  with 


283 

Clirist,  shares  in  this  his  victory  over  the  worhh 
Since  now  there  exists  no  other  power  througli 
which  the  world  can  be  overcome,  it  necessarily 
follows,  that  only  he  overcomes  the  world,  who 
believes  that  Jesus  is  the  Son  of  God. 

From  this  we  learn  the  important  lesson,  that 
all  true  reformation  of  the  world  can  proceed  only 
from  this  faith,  from  the  energy  of  the  divine  life 
residing  therein.  We  cannot,  therefore,  but  l)e 
distrustful  of  all  attempts  to  cure  the  evils  of  the 
world,  which  build  not  upon  this  one  foundation. 
Even  though  they  may  accomplish  many  single 
reforms,  yet  a  radical  cure  of  the  disease  is  not  to 
be  effected  by  such  means.  For  that  which  is 
everywhere  the  obstacle  to  the  fulfilment  of  the 
divine  commands, — the  world,  which  stands  op- 
posed to  all  that  is  of  God, — that  remains  un- 
weakened  in  its  strength,  the  fountain  whence  all 
evil  continually  springs  anew.  Though  at  single 
points  the  world  seems  to  be  overcome,  it  avails 
nothing.  The  world  may  be  overcome  by  the 
world,  and  its  power  remain  as  before  ;  it  has  but 
assumed  another  form.  The  conquest  of  the  world, 
as  a  whole,  can  be  achieved  only  through  faith  in 
•Jesus  as  the  Son  of  God,  only  through  the  might 


284 

of  liis  Spirit ;  and  this  must  first  be  efiected  before 
the  worhl  can  truly  be  overcome  in  all  its  single 
forms  of  evil.  So  Christ  himself  represents  all 
attempts  to  extirpate  evil  from  humanity  and  fi-om 
the  individual  man  as  futile,  if  the  inward  might 
of  evil  be  not  first  broken  by  the  power  of  the 
mightier,  which  is  Christ,— by  the  finger  of  God. 
(Luke  xi.  20,  comp.  Matt.  xii.  28.)  Hence  he  says 
of  such  attempts  to  subdue  and  banish  evil  other- 
wise than  by  his  Spirit,  that  though  appai-eutly 
producing  by  other  agencies  effects  similar  to  those 
of  the  Gospel,  they  are  yet  not  for  him  but  against 
him.  So  far  from  laboring  with  hira,  in  the  one 
divine  work  of  founding  tlie  kingdom  of  God  in 
its  unity  among  men,  their  tendency  is  to  lead 
men  away  from  this  unity,  away  from  the  king- 
dom of  God.  This  is  the  most  corrupting  of  all 
delusions,  under  the  most  dangerous  of  all  dis- 
guises; professing,  by  apparently  similar  results 
which  proceed  from  another  S2:)irit,  to  supply  the 
place  of  that  work  which  can  be  effected  only  by 
Christianity. 

John  then  adduces  three  tokens,  by  which  Jesus 

as  the  Son  of  God  has  revealed  himself; 
Ch.v.  6-8.]   ....  ,  .  , 

mdicatmo:  at  the  same  time  three  com- 


285 

bined  relations,  in  which  he  presents  himself  to 
the  christian  consciousness,  as  the  One  incarnate 
Son  of  God.  ''  This  is  he  who  came  by  water  and 
blood,  Jesus  the  Christ;  not  in  w^ater  only,  but  in 
water  and  blood.  And  it  is  the  Spirit  which  bear- 
eth  witness,  for  the  Spirit  is  the  truth.  For  there 
are  three  that  bear  wdtness :  the  Spirit,  and  the 
water,  and  the  blood ;  and  the  three  have  refer- 
ence to  the  One."* 

While  thus  presenting  the  three  tokens  by  which 
Jesus  as  the  Son  of  God  has  revealed  himself,  it  is 
at  the  same  time  his  object  to  combat  those,  who 
(like  that  Cerinthus  and  others  of  whom  w^e  have 
spoken  in  the  Introduction)  did  not  rightly  recog- 
nize the  connection  of  the  divine  and  human  in 
the  person  of  Christ,  the  unity  of  his  divine-human 
person,  of  his  life  and  of  his  work, — rending  asun- 
der that  in  him  which  should  be  conceived  of  as 
one.  From  the  heavenly  Christ,  who  descended 
from  the  higher  spirit-world  and  was  the  true  re- 
deeming Spirit,  they  separated  Jesus,  wdio  in  their 
view  was  a  mere  man,  and  ^vith  whom  as  man  this 
higher  Spirit  connected  itself  at  his  bajDtism.  The 
dove,  which  then  descended  upon  him,  they  re- 

*  As  translated  by  Neander. — Tr. 


286 

garded  as  a  symbol  or  embodiment  of  this  Spirit. 
Thenceforth  this  Spirit,  through  the  man  Jesus 
revealed  the  hidden  God  and  announced  divine 
truth ;  it  bestowed  on  him  the  power  of  working 
miracles ;  but  before  his  Suffering,  it  forsook  him 
and  withdrew  again  into  its  own  higher  regions. 
To  them  also,  as  to  the  Jews,  The  Crucified  con- 
tinued to  be  an  offence.  They  could  not  under- 
stand the  mystery  of  his  sufferings ;  suffering  had, 
in  their  conception,  no  place  in  the  work  of  re- 
demption. They  could  acknowledge  a  divinely 
teaching,  a  divinely  working,  but  not  a  suffering 
Christ.  To  them,  the  life  of  Christ  was  not  a 
divine-human  life  from  its  very  beginning.  On 
the  contrary,  the  Divine,  whereby  Jesus  was  to  be 
distinguished  from  all  other  messengers  of  God, 
had  at  that  definite  point  of  time  suddenly  taken 
up  its  tem])orary  abode  in  him,  and  had  again  in 
a  like  manner  departed  from  him.  The  Divine, 
in  the  servant-form  of  the  incarnate  Son,  from  liin 
birth  to  the  crowning  point  of  self-abasement  in 
his  suffering, — the  crowning  point  also  of  his  moral 
glory, — was  something  which  they  could  not  com- 
prehend. They  sundered  the  high  from  the  low, 
instead  of  recognizing  the  truly  high  in  the  lov. 


287 

In  opposition  to  such,  John  now  declares  Jesus  to 
be  the  Christ,  as  revealed  not  merely  in  water  at 
his  baptism,  but  also  in  his  Suffering.  By  water 
we  must  not  here  understand,  as  some  have  done, 
the  baptism  instituted  by  him.  It  is  the  baptism 
to  which  he  himself  submitted ;  and  at  which  the 
dignity  of  Jesus,  as  the  Son  of  Gocl,  shone  forth 
in  the  manner  described  by  John  in  his  Gospel. 
Since  the  blood  has  immediate  reference  to  the 
person  of  Jesus,  being  the  designation  of  his  Suffer- 
ing; the  water  also  must  designate  something 
which  has  a  personal  reference  to  himself,  viz.  his 
baptism.  Accordingly,  there  is  here  set  forth  the 
one  reference  of  his  baptism  and  his  Suffering, — 
that  it  was  the  same  Jesus,  who  in  his  baptism 
and  in  his  Suffering  manifested  himself  as  the  Son 
of  God,  the  Christ.  Both  must  combine  in  order 
to  make  him  known  as  the  Son  of  God ;  both  be- 
longed to  his  redemption-work. 

Still  a  third  witness,  a  third  token  by  which 
Jesus  reveals  himself  as  the  Son  of  God,  is  intro- 
duced by  John;  the  witness  of  the  Spirit,  the 
Spirit  absolutel}'*  the  divine  or  holy  Spirit. 

In  accordance  with  the  relation  of  the  three 
ideas  to  each  other, — as  by  the  water  we  must 


288 

understand  sometbing  precedent  to  his  Suffering, 
and  by  the  hlood  the  Suffering  which  followed  his 
baptism, — so  by  the  Spii-it's  witness  must  be  un- 
derstood something  subsequent  to  both.  It  must 
be,  therefore,  those  manifestations  of  the  Holy 
Spirit,  which  followed  the  triumphant  ascension 
of  the  suffering  Christ ;  that  continued  working  of 
this  Spirit,  which  since  its  first  outpouring  has  tes- 
tified, w^herever  the  Gospel  is  preached,  of  Jesus 
as  the  Son  of  God ;  that  divine  Witness,  to  which 
Jesus  himself  appeals  in  those  last  discourses  re- 
corded by  John.  Upon  this  testimony  John  lays 
special  stress.  It  was  indeed  the  witness  which 
must  be  added  to  the  two  other  tokens,  in  order 
that  the  Jesus  who  was  baptized  and  had  suffered, 
might  be  accredited,  in  a  manner  perceptible  to 
all,  as  the  Son  of  God.  Plence  he  emphatically 
adds :  "  The  Spirit  is  the  truth."  Truth  itself,  as 
revealed  in  the  divine  workings  of  the  Spirit  of 
God,  of  him  who  is  The  True, — this  cannot  lie. 
And  these  three  bear  witness.  The  Spirit  (now 
placed  first  by  John,  since  by  it  the  two  other 
witnesses  are  confirmed)  the  Water,  and  the 
Blood,  all  have  reference  to  one  and  the  same  ob- 


289 

ject,  and  all  concur  in  revealing  and  accrediting 
Jesus  as  the  Son  of  God. 

The  reading,  followed  in  the  above  translation 
and  explanation,  must  certainly  be  regarded  as  the 
true  one.  It  has  the  authority  of  the  oldest  manu- 
scripts in  its  favor,  while  the  commonly  received 
reading  has  grown  out  of  explanatory  additions  to 
the  text.  It  is  also  favored  by  the  connection,  in 
which  these  additions  appear  as  something  wholly 
foreign  and  discordant ;  for  in  this  connection,  the 
writer  is  concerned  only  with  facts  occurring  on 
the  earth,  as  signs  and  evidences  that  Jesus  has 
revealed  himself  as  the  Son  of  God, — not  with  wit- 
nesses in  heaven.  Such  a  reference  to  the  latter 
would  have  wholly  distracted  the  reader's  atten- 
tion, from  that  which  it  was  the  sole  object  of 
John  to  set  forth  in  this  passage. 

In  our  own  age,  as  already  remarked  in  the  In- 
troduction, are  repeated  those  same  tendencies, 
by  which  are  sundered  the  divine  and  human  in 
the  person  of  Christ,  and  the  one  is  exalted  at  the 
expense  of  the  other.  The  divine-human  Christ, 
as  manifested  from  the  beginning,  in  the  words  of 
eternal  life  uttered  by  him  as  a  public  teacher 

after  his  baptism,  in  his  miracles,  and  in  his  suffer- 
19 


290 

ings,  is  not  recognized  in  liis  undivided  unity.  To 
sucli  tendencies,  wherever  found,  these  words  of 
the  Apostle  are  applicable.  They  apply  also  to 
the  case  of  those,  who  do  not  recognize  as  actually 
true  and  real  the  harmonious  image  of  this  Christ 
presented  in  the  Gospel  record,  and  convert  the 
true  historical  Christ  into  a  vague  form  of  mist. 
If  his  baptism  and  his  sufferings  are  events  of  the 
past  (though  in  their  imj^ort  and  influence  still 
making  themselves  ever  present)  yet  it  is  other- 
wise with  the  witness  of  the  Spirit.  This  is  some- 
thing belonging  not  merely  to  the  past.  True,  in 
the  wonderful  period  when  John  wrote  this,  it  was 
manifested  in  an  extraordinary  manner.  Yet  in 
that  unceasing,  connected  agency  with  which  it 
continues  to  work  through  all  time,  it  still  remains 
a  present  witness  for  ourselves.  The  church  being 
the  perpetual  organ  for  the  operations  of  the  Spirit, 
the  progress  of  its  history  has  been  continually 
adding,  even  down  to  our  own  time,  a  succession 
of  new  witnesses  to  those  of  the  past,  through 
which  we  as  christians  live  in  connection  with  that 
witness  of  the  Spirit  in  the  apostolic  age.  The 
more  widely  Christianity  diffuses  itself  among  the 
savage  races  of  humanity ;  the  more  various  the 


291 

modes  in  which  it  reveals  its  all-subduing  all-trans- 
forming power,  and  the  forms  which  it  calls  into 
being  from  the  moral  putrescence  of  human  life ;  the 
more  often  it  goes  forth  victorious  from  the  con- 
flict with  superstition  and  unbelief,  to  new  and 
still  more  glorious  conquests  ;  so  much  the  more 
is  revealed  the  witness  of  this  Spirit,  which  is  the 
Truth.  K  the  same  Spirit,  which  then  imparted  to 
the  preachers  of  the  Gospel  the  power  to  testify 
of  Christ  through  their  word,  their  life,  and  their 
blood,  is  now  working  through  them  in  a  greater 
number  of  nations  than  at  any  period  since  the 
apostolic;  if  through  this  Spiiit,  martyrs  have 
again  been  raised  up  among  heathen  nations  to 
seal  their  faith  with  their  blood,  as  seen  of  late  in 
the  Isle  of  Madagascar ;  this  is  but  the  continued 
and  renewed  witness  of  that  Spirit.  What  is 
now  being  wrought,  through  foreign  and  domes- 
tic missions,  is  part  of  that  same  witness,  and  con- 
nects itself  wdth  all  w^hich  had  been  testified  by 
that  Spirit,  and  which  it  continued  to  testify, 
when  these  words  were  written.  And  on  this 
will  we  ever  take  our  stand,  in  opposition  to  those 
who  seek  to  veil  the  historical  Christ  in  a  cloud 
of  mist :  that  the  Spirit,  which  is  the  Truth,  testi- 


Ch.  V.  9.] 


292 

fies  of  liim  wliose  image  they  would  obscure,  of 
that  Jesus  who,  in  water  and  in  blood,  revealed 
himself  as  the  Son  of  God. 

He  then  shovv^s  how  much  is  involved  in  this 
divine  witness,  in  the  emphatic  words :  "  If 
we  receive  the  witness  of  men,  the  witness 
of  God  is  greater :  for  this  is  the  witness  of  God, 
which  he  hath  testified  of  his  Son." 

That  which  he  has  called  the  witness  of  the 
Spirit,  is  here  designated  as  testimony  given  by 
God  himself ;  and  this  divine  witness  is  contrasted 
with  all  human  testimony,  which  is  ever  liable  to 
mislead.  If  we  receive  anything  as  true,  upon  the 
testimony  of  men  whom  we  have  reason  to  believe, 
how  can  we  but  follow  this  unerring  Avitness  of 
God  ?  So  is  this  continuous  divine  witness,  ex- 
tending through  all  times,  something  more  reliable 
than  human  testimony.  This  factual  witness  of 
God  himself,  everywhere  seen  in  the  practical 
workings  of  the  Gospel,  shows  us  the  same  image 
of  his  Son  delineated  in  the  Gospel  narrative,  and 
thus  attests  it  to  be  true,  beyond  all  reach  of 
doubt.  It  testifies  of  the  same  Christ  mirrored  in 
the  Gospel  history.  It  is,  as  John  says,  the  Fatlier's 
witness  of  the  Son.   This,  in  the  preceding  passage, 


293 

• 

had  been  represented  as  belonging  to  the  present, 
It  is  now  spoken  of  as  something  completed,  the 
witness  which  .the  Father  has  already  given  of  the 
Son.  Looking  back  upon  the  past,  on  these  opera- 
tions of  the  Spirit  as  a  whole,  he  regards  them  as 
a  testimony  already  closed.  But  as  extending  into 
his  own  time,  they  are  a  present  witness.  And 
thus  we  also,  from  the  stand-point  of  our  own  age, 
may  appeal  to  it  as  something  at  once  past  and 
present. 

The  Apostle  then  shows  that  it  depends  on  man 
himself,  to  receive  or  to  i'eiect  this  testi- 

...  [Ch.  V.  10. 

mony ;  and  that  when  received,  it  is  neces- 
sarily converted  from  an  outward  to  an  inward 
witness.  "  He  that  believeth  on  the  Son  of  God, 
hath  the  witness  in  himself:  he  that  believeth  not 
God,  hath  made  him  a  liar,  because  he  believeth 
not  the  record  that  God  gave  of  his  Son." 

For  him,  who  through  that  outward  witness  of 
the  Spirit  has  been  led  to  believe  on  the  Son  of 
God,  it  is  no  longer  mere  outward  testimony.  It 
has  become  a  part  of  his  own  inner  life.  What 
God  first  testified  to  him  from  without,  is  now  by 
means  of  his  faith  testified  inwardly  to  his  own 
living  consciousness.     He  bears  the  divine  witness 


294 

in  liimself.  It  is  the  Spirit's  testimony  in  his 
heart.  Through  his  own  inward  experience  of 
the  divine  life  is  it  certain  to  him,  that  Jesus  is 
the  Son  of  God. 

But  he  who  believes  not  God  in  his  testimony 
of  his  Son,  has  thereby  made  him  a  liar.  By  this 
very  unbelief,  he  practically  declares  those  divine 
facts,  which  testify  of  the  Son  of  God,  to  be  false 
witnesses,  and  in  effect  makes  God  a  liar.  If  through 
the  operations  of  his  Spirit  God  thus  testifies  of 
his  Son,  and  yet  he  is  not  received  as  the  Son  of 
God ;  what  is  this  but  saying,  that  God  contradicts 
himself,  while  thus  by  these  divine  facts- accredit- 
ing him  as  bis  Son  who  is  not  so?  Unbelief  can- 
not recognize  God  in  his  workings,  as  him  that  is 
true.  It  stamps  the  divine  as  the  undivine.  It 
can  see  in  the  ways  of  God  nothing  but  contradic- 
tion. 

From  these  words  of  John  we  may"  deduce  a 
trutb  most  important  for  our  own  age.  That 
Jesus  is  the  Son  of  God,  as  he  has  declared  him- 
self in  his  history,  is  attested  by  no  resistless 
proofs,  for  sucb  as  will  not  recognize  the  witness 
in  what  God  has  wrought  through  the  Gospel; 
for  sucb  as,  having  no  susceptibility  in  themselves 


295 

for  receiving  it,  do  not  yield  themselves  witli  au 
Itnmble  and  receptive  lieai't  to  the  witness  of  the 
Sj»irit,  that  it  may  thereby  become  to  them  an 
inward  witness.  It  is  the  individual  character 
and  disposition  that  must  here  make  the  decision. 
It  belongs  to  the  individual  will  to  decide,  whether 
one  will  yield  himself  to  that  witness  of  the  Spirit, 
or  rather  than  this,  will  account  God  in  his  work- 
ings a  liar. 

Having  thus  spoken  of  the  testimony  where1)y 
Jesus  is  accredited  as  the  Son  of  God, 

[Ch.  V.  11,  12. 

the  Aj)ostle  now  shows  more  particu- 
larly what  is  its  import  in  reference  to  believers, 
what  this  attestation  that  he  is  the  Son  of  God 
implies,  and  assures  to  them.  "  And  this  is  the 
record,  that  God  hath  given  to  us  eternal  life,  and 
this  life  is  in  his  Son.  He  that  hath  the  Son,  hath 
life ;  and  he  that  hath  not  the  Son  of  God  hath 
not  life." 

Through  this  witness,  whereby  Jesus  is  accred- 
ited as  the  Son  of  God,  he  is  made  known  as  the 
One  who  alone  can  impart  a  true,  eternal,  divine 
life  of  bliss  to  man.  By  sending  to  us  his  Son, 
God  has  in  him  bestowed  on  us  the  fountain  of 
this  eternal  life.     Hence  this  witness  includes  also 


296 

that  gift  of  eternal  life.  lu  the  Son  is  grounded 
this  eternal  life;  all  life,  apart  from  fellowship 
with  him,  being  only  death.  It  follows,  that  he 
who  has  received  the  Son,  has  in  so  doing  experi- 
enced in  himself  that  true  life ;  while  he,  who 
through  unbelief  shuts  himself  out  from  Christ, 
shuts  himself  out  from  the  fountain  of  true  life, 
and  from  that  life  itself 

To  reawaken  this  in  their  consciousness,  he  re- 
peats, is  the  object  of  his  epistle.     This  is 

Ch.T.  13.]    ^ 

to  him  the  fii'st  and  the  chief  thing.  In 
it  is  included  all  which  is  necessary  for  the  inner 
man ;  since  this  true  divine  life  comprehends  in 
itself,  all  which  man  needs  for  time  and  eternity. 
It  is  the  exhaustless  source  of  satisfaction  to  the 
spirit,  so  formed,  so  constituted  in  its  very  nature, 
that  it  can  satisfy  itself  with  nothing  less  than 
God;  can  find  its  true  life,  its  true  happiness,  only 
in  that  fellowship  with  him  which  is  bestowed 
alone  throuo:h  liis  Son.     "  These  thinf^s  have  I 

o  o 

written  unto  you,  that  ye  may  know  that  ye  have 
eternal  life,  who  believe  on  the  name  of  the  Son 
of  God."* 

This  then  was  the  Apostle's  object,  that  believ- 

*  As  trauslated  by  Ncander. — Tr. 


297 

ers  might  know  how  much  has  been  bestowed 
upon  them  in  their  faith.     True  they  must,  as 
believers,  have  known  this  from  the  beginning; 
but  then,  in  human  life,  all  things  slide  so  easily 
into  the  mechanical  form  of  habit !     The  current 
of  li^  sweeps  us  along ;  and  though  one  may  in- 
deed abide  in  the  faith,  yet  he  may  lose  more  and 
more  the  vivid  consciousness  of  the  treasure  there- 
in imparted  to  him.     Hence  he  must  ever  draw 
anew  from  the  divine  life-fountain  opened  to  him 
through  faith ;  the  consciousness  of  that  which  he 
has  therein  received,  must  be  continually  revived 
and  invigorated ;  and  from  faith  must  the  knowl- 
edge of  that,  which  was  first  received  in  faith, 
continually  develop  itself  anew.     There  can  be  no 
halting  here.    Unless  the  fountain  of  faith  is  itself 
dried  up,  there  must  proceed  from  it  a  progressive 
development.    Hence  he  writes  to  those  who  have 
already  long  believed,  as  if  they  were  now  first  to 
learn,  that  by  believing  in  Jesus  as  the  Son  of 
God  they  became  partakers  of  eternal  life.     Their 
joy  in  that  divine  possession  was  to  be  continually 
renewed  and  increased.     They  were    again    and 
again  to  be  reminded,  that  no  power  of  earth  can 
bestow   upon   them   anything   higher,    anything 


298 

more ;  to  be  thus  warned  against  the  treacherous 
arts  of  those  false  teachers,  who  sought  to  unsettle 
tlieiii  in  their  faith,  commending  to  them  some- 
tliing  else  as  the  truth  or  as  a  higher  truth;  to  be 
thereby  established  in  this  faith,  under  all  temp- 
tations and  conflicts. 

He  then  proceeds  to  remind  them  of  one  espe- 
cial blessine^,  the  fruit  of  this  relation 

Ch.  V.  14,  15.]  ,      ^ 

to  God  into  which  they  have  entered 
through  faith.  "  And  this  is  the  confidence  that 
we  have  in  him,  that  if  we  ask  anything  according 
to  his  will,  he  heareth  us.  And  if  we  know  that 
he  hear  us,  whatsoever  we  ask,  we  know  that  we 
have  the  petitions  that  we  desired  of  him." 

Thus  John  regards  it  as  the  fruit  of  faith,  that 
God  is  no  Ignger  to  them  a  God  afar  off.  The 
chasm  is  now  closed  which  separated  man  from 
his  Creator, — from  Him  who  is  over  all  worlds, 
God  in  his  infinitude,  in  his  incomprehensibility, 
in  his  holiness.  They  now  hold  a  filial  relation  to 
him,  enjoy  continual  intercourse  with  him,  in  all 
their  necessities  can  turn  to  him  with  filial  confi- 
dence as  to  a  father  and  friend.  In  him  they  have 
ever  at  hand  one  in  whom  help,  counsel,  and  com- 
fort are  to  be  found.     It  is  this  living  relation  to 


299 


God  as  our  Father,— coutiuually  mediated  tliroiigli 
faith  in  Christ  as  the  Sou  of  God,  through  con^ 
scious  fellowship  with  him, — which  constitutes  true 
Christianity  as  a  matter  of  the  life.    To  this  child- 
like confidence,  leading  us  to  prayer  and  enjoyed 
in  prayer,  the  Apostle  attaches  a  high  import- 
Prayer  he  makes  the  soul  of  the  whole  christian 
life.     Having  previously  said,  that  prayer  in  the 
name  of  Christ  is  ever  heard  by  the  Father ;  he 
now  adds  the  condition,  that  we  pray  according  to 
his  will.     The  one  is  involved  in  the  other,  as  we 
have  already  shown.     He  who  prays  in  the  name 
of  Christ,  is  moved  and  guided  by  the  Spirit  of 
Christ  in  prayer.    He  can  ask  for  nothing,  but  that 
which  is  in  accordance  with  the  will  of  God ;  can 
with  assurance  ask  only  that,  which  the  Spirit  of 
Christ  makes  known  to  him  in  prayer,  as  cori'e- 
sponding  to  the  Father's  will.  When  this  certainty 
is  wanting,  his  prayer  will  always  be  accompanied 
with  the  condition,  that  the  desire  arising  in  his 
soul  and  taking  the  form  of  prayer,  may  have  for 
its  object  something  which  the  Father  approves. 

From  this  we  are  not  to  conclude,  however,  that 
prayer  in  itself  can  have  no  definite  effect,  since 
whatever  is  grounded  in  the  will  of  God  must 


300 

liappen  in  any  case.  Nor  are  we  to  suppose  that 
prayer,  by  bringing  man  into  this  living  relation 
to  his  Source  of  being  and  his  Father,  therein 
alone  accomplishes  its  whole  work  upon  the  inner 
life ;  that  its  whole  influence  is  seen  in  the  holy 
temper  of  mind  which  it  produces,  and  which 
naturally  flows  from  the  elevation  of  the  soul 
above  itself  and  the  woi-ld  to  God,  entering  into 
living  intercourse  with  him,  and  losing  itself  in 
him.  It  is  true  indeed,  that  herein  consists  one  of 
the  chief  blessings  of  prayer;  but  this  is  not  all 
which  prayer  effects.  And  even  this  effect  would 
not  be  fully  realized,  if  prayer  were  not  something 
more  than  the  mere  objective  contemplation  of  the 
Divine.  For  it  presupposes  the  assured  conscious- 
ness, that  the  relation  to  God  into  which  we  enter 
})y  prayer  is  a  living  personal  relation,  as  of  one 
individual  person  with  another,  in  which  both  are 
mutually  acted  on ;  that  he  perceives  that,  which 
our  spirit  in  directing  to  him  its  feelings  and 
thoughts  would  have  him  perceive.  In  this  it  is 
necessarily  implied,  that  our  prayer  for  a  definite 
object  will  not  be  in  vain.  This  the  Apostle  in 
dicates,  when  he  speaks  of  a  hearing  of  prayer. 
Prayer  is  tlie  soul's  necessity,  breathed  forth  to 


301 

God  with  filial  confidence  and  submission,  in  tlie 
consciousness  of  that  living  relation  to  him  as 
father;  it  must  therefore,  in  rising  to  God,  find 
satisfaction  in  reference  to  that  which  is  the  ob- 
ject of  want.  True  indeed,  prayer  cannot  in  the 
proper  sense  constrain  the  will  of  God, — a  thought 
Avhich  is  excluded  by  the  very  nature  of  this  filial 
relation  to  him.  But  the  actualization  of  the  di- 
vine Avill  excludes  not  intermediate  causes ;  and 
among  the  chief  of  these  is  prayer.  Passing  be- 
yond the  outward  and  finite  of  the  earthly  world, 
as  presented  in  space  and  time ;  beyond  the 
natural  connection  of  phenomena ;  as  an  invisible 
spiritual  force,  it  penetrates  with  its  agency  to  the 
very  heart  of  the  invisible  world.  Itself  the 
breath  of  love,  its  w^orkings  are  in  unison  with  the 
laws  of  the  invisible  kingdom  of  love.  It  belongs 
not  to  that  which  can  be  mechanically  estimated, 
— like  all  that  is  highest,  and  deepest,  and  inner- 
most. Prayer  is  the  highest  act  of  the  God- 
related  spirit,  entering  into  that  living  relation  to 
God  for  which  it  was  created.  Prayer,  grounded 
in  fellowship  with  Christ  as  here  represented  by 
John,  presupposes  that  power  derived  from  God, 
whereby  the  soul  is  winged  for  this  its  loftiest 


302 

flight,  whence  it  receives  this  its  highest  energy 
of  burning  aspiration.  This  power  tends  back  to 
the  Primal  Source  from  which  it  flows.  It  is  a 
special  gift,  bestowed  on  man  as  a  member  of  the 
invisible  world,  whereby  he  may  lay  hold  on  the 
invisible.  It  is  one  of  his  homeborn  rights  ;  en- 
joyed already  here,  as  j)ertaining  to  that  heaven 
where  he  belongs,  and  which  shaU  one  day  be  his 
home.  So  certainly  will  prayer  be  heard,  that 
christians,  while  they  pray,  should  be  inspired 
with  the  assurance  that  what  they  ask  is  virtually 
received  already. 

From  all  for  which  as  christians  we  may  pray, 
John  now  selects  a  single  object  of  prayer. 

Ch.  V.  16.]  . 

This  must,  therefore,  appear  to  him  to  be 
sj)ecially  connected  mth  the  peculiar  nature  of  the 
christian  life.  "  If  any  man  see  his  brother  sin  a 
sin  which  is  not  unto  death,  he  shall  ask,  and  he 
shall  give  him  life  for  them  that  sin  not  unto 
death.  There  is  a  sin  unto  death :  I  do  not  say 
that  he  shall  pray  for  it." 

True  prayer  as  grounded  in  fellowship  with 
Christ,  must  proceed  from  the  christian  life  as  a 
connected  whole.  That  which  is  the  animating 
principle  of  the  whole  christian  life,  must  also  be 


303 

the  animating  principle  of  christian  prayer.  The 
prayer  of  love,  is  that  which  binds  all  christians 
together  as  brethren.  Hence  the  Apostle  singles 
out  that  sympathy  of  fraternal  love,  which  ex- 
presses itself  in  prayer.  As  this  sympathy  must 
first  respect  the  spiritual  necessities,  which  to  each 
are  his  own  highest  concern,  and  as  the  need  aris- 
ing from  sin  must  seem  to  each  his  brother's  great- 
est need ;  so  will  his  sympathy  expressed  in  prayer, 
his  ardent  desire  to  help,  have  special  reference  to 
this  need,  which  he  feels  himself  constrained  to 
bear  with  his  brother.  It  may  indeed  happen, 
that  those  who  are  strict  toward  themselves  prac- 
tise the  same  strictness  toward  others  also,  despis- 
ing and  repulsing  them,  when  they  see  in  them 
any  sin.  But  this  is  not  that  zeal  in  sanctification, 
which  is  in  harmony  with  the  christian  life.  Con- 
scious as  he  is  himself,  that  he  owes  all  to  redeem- 
ing grace,  that  the  divine  life  in  himself  is  still 
mingled  with  much  that  is  impure ;  the  christian 
cannot  but  be  lenient  in  his  judgment  when  he 
sees  others  fall,  while  he  thus  feels  his  own  weak- 
ness, his  own  continual  need  of  redemption.  And 
here,  especially,  is  shown  the  power  of  that  love, 
which  feels  as  its  own  the  brother's  need.     Ac- 


304 

cordingly,  John  calls  upon  christians  first  of  all, 
to  help  with  their  jjrayers  the  brother  who  has 
fallen  into  sin.  He  assures  them,  that  to  the  fal- 
len brother, — in  whom  the  divine  life  has  been  im- 
paired through  sin,  who  by  yielding  to  temptation 
has  fallen  from  the  unity  of  this  divine  life, — that 
to  such  an  one  God  will  restore  this  divine  life  in 
its  original  vigor.  They  may  thus,  through  the 
intercession  j^rompted  by  love,  become  instruments 
in  restoring  to  life  a  fallen  brother.  Could  they 
render  him  a  hii^her  service  of  love  ! 

But  how  are  we  to  understand  John's  limitation 
of  this  requirement,  in  the  exception,  emphatically 
repeated,  of  sins  which  are  unto  death?  Should 
not  then  the  claim  for  help  be  greater,  the  greater 
the  brother's  spiritual  need  ?  Should  limits  be 
set  to  that  gushing  love,  which  pours  itself  out  in 
intercession  ?  Should  not  prayer  for  the  brother 
be  so  much  the  more  required?  To  make  this 
clear,  it  is  only  necessary  to  understand  what  kind 
of  prayer  John  has  in  view ;  what  he  presupposes 
as  the  condition  on  which  prayer  is  heard,  and 
how  he  distinguishes  from  other  sins  the  sin  which 
is  unto  death. 

True  the  divine  life,  in  its  essential  nature,  ex- 


305 

cliides  all  sin, — as  Jolin  has  already  shown.  Sin 
and  death,  according  to  the  Holy  Scriptures,  are 
closely  connected  ideas.  But  the  divine  life  in  be- 
lievers, as  we  have  already  seen,  develoj^s  itself 
in  continual  conflict  wdth  the  after- workings  of  the 
earlier  life  of  sin.  Numerous  disturbances  of  the 
divine  life  may  thereby  ensue,  interruj^tions  of  the 
christian  development,  which  yet  do  not  undermine 
this  life  itself  as  the  controlling  principle,  but  only 
repress  it  at  particular  times  and  in  certain  mani- 
festations. The  ruling  tendency  of  the  will  is  still 
directed  towards  holiness.  Sin  is  hated  and  ab- 
horred ;  andthongh  its  after-workings  are  still  felt, 
it  is  only  as  something  foreign  cleaving  to  the  true 
self,  whose  animating  and  controlling  principle  is 
love.  In  such  a  case  it  is  only  necessary,  when  one 
falls  under  single  temptations,  to  call  again  into 
action  the  controlling  element  of  the  divine  life  ex- 
isting in  him,  in  order  to  overcome  the  principle 
of  sin.  It  is  of  such  cases  the  Apostle  speaks, 
where  there  is  true  repentance  and  longing  after 
continued  sanctification ;  and  hence,  w^here  the  con- 
ditions and  the  susceptibility  are  not  wanting,  for 
that  which  is  to  be  obtained  through  a  brother's 

intercession.     It  is  of  such  persons  he  speaks,  who 
20 


306 

are  in  a  state  of  grace,  and  have  not  apostatized 
from  their  christian  callins: ;  wlio  still  deserve  the 
name  of  christian  brethren,  and  hence  have  a  claim 
upon  all  the  aids  of  christian  love,  which  one 
brother  can  render  to  anothei*.  An  intercession 
is  meant,  which  in  the  nature  of  the  case  can  re- 
spect only  such  persons;  and  it  is  presupposed 
that  all,  w^ho  are  connected  by  the  bond  of  chris- 
tian brotherhood,  will  mutually  intercede  for  one 
another. 

It  may  be,  however,  that  an  individual  has  fallen 
into  such  a  state,  as  absolutely  excludes  the  pres- 
ence of  the  divine  life  in  him ;  an  evidence  that  he 
who  seemed  to  have  passed  from  death  unto  life^ 
has  again  fallen  under  the  power  of  death.  Such 
an  one  may  never  in  reality  have  attained  to  the 
true  Hfe.  The  essence  of  living  faith,  as  delineated 
by  John,  may  have  been  ever  wanting  in  him.  He 
may  have  only  seemed  to  be  a  christian,  without 
being  truly  so ;  having  received  only  the  baptism 
of  water,  not  the  ba2")tism  of  the  Holy  Ghost. 
Christ  may  never  have  been  actually  formed  in 
him ;  and  at  most,  he  may  have  experienced  only 
transient  emotions  of  the  higher  life.  Or  it  may 
be  that  such  an  one,  after  having  truly  received 


307 

through  living  faith  a  divine  life  and  become  a 
new  man,  has  fallen  from  this  state,  has  estranged 
himself  from  it,  and  sunk  back  again  into  his  for- 
mer position.  This  could  not  indeed  happen  at 
once;  but  yet,  —  through  want  of  watchfulness 
over  himself,  through  negligence  and  sluggishness 
in  the  conflict  with  after-working  sin,  through  a 
false  security,  a  presumptuous  reliance  upon  grace 
or  a  false  self-reliance, — it  might  be  brought  about 
gradually,  and  through  many  downward  stages. 
Now  where  such  a  state  existed,  it  showed  itself 
in  acts ;  in  such  sins  as  no  one,  who  remained  true 
to  the  christian  relation  and  faithfully  applied  the 
imparted  means  of  grace,  could  possibly  have  com- 
mitted. Such  persons  were  excluded  from  the 
fellowship  of  the  church,  in  accordance  with  the 
principles  of  church  relationship  in  that  age ;  as 
is  assumed  to  be  necessary  by  the  Apostle  Paul, 
in  a  case  like  this  occurring  in  the  Corinthian 
church.  John  could  not  mean,  that  it  was  forbid- 
den to  pray  for  such  as  had  thus  fallen.  For  in 
regard  to  the  first  case, — there  is  no  ground  ap- 
parent, why  those  who  had  not  yet  been  truly 
converted,  and  at  most  had  felt  only  occasional 
impulses  towards  Christianity,  might  not  become 


308 

susceptible  to  the  farther  operations  of  grace  and 
be  brous^lit  under  their  influence.  Or  if  we  take 
the  second  case, — of  such  as  had  culpably  lost  the 
life  imparted  by  grace ;  we  can  find  no  reason, 
why  they  might  not  have  regained  it  through 
true  repentance.  It  is  true  indeed,  that  this  was 
rendered  far  more  difficult  by  their  misuse  of  the 
means  of  grace,  and  by  the  increased  moral  1)11  nd- 
ness  induced  through  their  own  fault, — which  is 
referred  to  in  the  sixth  chapter  of  the  Epistle  to 
the  Hebrews.  When  John  calls  Christ  the  Kecon- 
ciliation  and  the  Intercessor  for  the  sins  of  the 
whole  world,  he  certainly  meant  not  to  exclude 
one  belonging  to  either  of  these  two  classes,  pro- 
vided only  that  repentance  could  be  reawakened. 
In  this  connection,  however,  he  is  speaking  of 
intercession  for  christians,  for  such  as  have  not 
trifled  away  the  forgiveness  of  sins  through  Christ. 
Hence,  in  this  connection,  those  must  be  excepted 
who  have  fallen  into  what  John  calls  "  sin  unto 
death,"  in  the  sense  explained ;  for  in  their  case 
such  intercession  would  be  inappropriate,  since  in 
them  the  conditions  and  the  susceptibility  for  it 
were  wanting.  Had  he  not  made  this  distinction, 
he  would  have  given  the  fjilse  impression,  that 


309 

one  wLo  commits  such  sins  may  still  abide  in 
Christianity ;  as  if  christians  and  those  who  are 
not  christians  could  be  known,  the  one  from  the 
other,  by  no  distinctive  signs  in  their  life-walk, 
lie  would  thus  have  required  the  church  to  regard 
such  persons  as  still  christian  brethren,  since  they 
wei-e  to  !)e  embraced  in  the  common  supplication 
for  all  christians.  He  would  have  made  those 
persons  themselves  more  secure  in  their  sins,  and 
led  them  to  a  false  reliance  on  the  intercession  of 
others.  With  christian  love,  the  unsparing  couj 
demnation  of  sin  must  go  hand  in  hand.  A  love, 
which  overlooked  all  distinction  among  sins,  would 
have  been  no  true  love. 

How  unlike  John  it  would  have  been,  to  with- 
hold from  one  ever  so  debased  the  consolation  of 
forgiveness  through  Christ,  and  to  withdraw  from 
him  the  sympathy  of  his  love,  is  seen  in  the  beau- 
tiful tradition,  (which  there  is  no  reason  to  dis- 
credit) of  that  ftillen  christian  youth,  who  had  be- 
come chief  of  a  robber-band,  and  who  by  John's 
love  was  rescued  and  brought  back  to  the  Lord. 

But  while  he  thus  demands  even  for  the  sins  of 

brethren  the  oflices  of  christian  sympa- 

[Ch.  V.  n,  la 
thy  and  love,  he  deems  it  important  to 


310 

avoid  thereby  effacing  the  essential  contrariety 
between  the  christian  life  and  sin,  and  to  summon 
the  christian  to  continued  conflict  with  sin.  "  All 
unrighteousness  is  sin,  and  there  is  a  sin  not  unto 
death.  We  know  that  whosoever  is  born  of  God, 
sinneth  not :  but  he  that  is  begotten  of  God,  keep- 
eth  himself,  and  that  wicked  one  toucheth  him 
not." 

He  deems  it  necessary  to  add  this  warning,  lest 
some  might  be  led,  by  the  distinction  which  he 
had  made  among  sins,  to  think  too  lightly  of  any 
sin  ;  lest  christians  should  suppose  they  had  done 
enough,  if  they  only  avoided  such  outbreaking 
sins.  Here  again  he  refei-s  to  the  fact,  that  the 
Principle  in  all  sin  is  the  same.  xlU  transgression 
of  the  divine  law,  all  which  proceeds  from  the  Sel- 
fish in  man,  as  Sin,  is  in  its  radical  principle  one 
and  the  same  thing.  It  is  only  in  reference  to  the 
outward  manifestation,  that  such  a  difference  among 
sins  can  be  made,  that  the  sin  unto  death  can  be 
distinguished  from  other  sins.  To  this  end  he  re- 
iterates the  truth,  that  the  divine  life  stands  in 
contradiction  with  all  sin  ;  and  that  one,  as  born 
of  God  and  possessing  that  divine  life  which  is 
opposed  to  all  sin,  keeps  himself  separate  from  all 


311 

sin.  Such  an  one,  faithfully  cherishing  the  divine 
Lie  which  he  has  received, and  watching  over  him- 
t^elf,  has  nothing  to  fear  from  temptations  to  evil ; 
he  has  the  power  to  withstand  Satan  in  all  his  in- 
fluences. There  is  nothing  in  such  an  one  on  which 
he  can  fix  his  hold.  As  he  was  compelled  to  retire 
from  the  Kedeemer  himself,  finding  no  access  to 
him  with  his  temptations ;  so  will  he  be  compelled 
to  leave  unharmed,  those  who  stand  in  fellowshi}) 
with  the  Redeemer.  Herein  are  included  two 
things :  first,  the  duty  of  all  such  as  have  become 
partakers  of  the  divine  life,  to  guard  against  all  sin 
whatever,  without  regard  to  gradational  differ- 
ences ;  and  secondly,  the  proof  of  the  fact,  that 
such  as  have  fallen  into  sins  which  are  unto  death 
are  not  born  of  God.  From  this  it  is  evident,  that 
if  they  were  actually  born  of  God,  they  could  only, 
by  neglecting  to  watch  over  themselves,  have 
again  fallen  a  prey  to  the  power  of  evil,  which 
they  must  otherwise  have  withstood. 

This  leads  the  Apostle  to  exhibit  yet  once  more, 
before  he  closes  his  epistle,  the  essential 

.  [Ch.  V.  19,  20. 

contrariety  between  christians  as  born 

of  God,  and  the  sinful  world.    "  And  we  know  that 

we  are  of  God,  and  the  whole  world  lieth  in  wick- 


312 

edness.  And  we  know  that  the  Son  of  God  is 
come,  and  hath  given  us  an  understanding  that  we 
may  know  Him  that  is  true  :  and  we  are  in  Him 
that  is  true,  in  his  Son  Jesus  Christ." 

The  Apostle,  now  about  to  take  leave  of  his 
readers,  once  more  impresses  on  their  hearts  what 
christians  must  ever  hold  in  living  remembrance, 
if  they  would  not  prove  fsiithless  to  their  calling, — 
their  relation  to  the  world.  As  born  of  God,  as 
partakers  of  the  divine  life,  they  form  the  opposite 
to  the  world,  of  which  John  says,  that  it  lies  un- 
der the  dominion  of  Evil.  The  divine  life  in  them 
constitutes  the  entire  and  irreconcilable  opposite 
to  the  evil  M^hich  reierns  in  this  world.  Out  of  the 
fulness  of  the  divine  life  in  his  own  soul,  the  aged 
John  looks  back  upon  a  long  life,  during  which  he 
had  witnessed  the  constant  progress  of  evil  in  the 
world,  develoi^ing  itself  in  an  ever-ascending  scale. 
He  must  now  look  to  his  near  departui-e  out  of 
this  world,  whence  he  was  to  be  called  into  the 
home  of  the  Good,  to  Christ.  But  his  spiritual 
children  he  leftlteliind  in  this  world  of  wickedness, 
exposed  to  the  taint  of  its  corruptions.  He  re- 
minds them,  that  by  virtue  of  the  divine  life  within 
them,  they  should  constitute  the  opposite  to  this 


313 

wicked  world.  Hence  tbey  should  be  ever  watch- 
ful over  themselves,  guarding  against  all  inward 
contact  with  the  wickedness  which  is  in  the  world, 
and  by  the  power  of  their  inward  divine  life  pre- 
serve themselves  pure  from  its  contaminating  in- 
fluence ;  ever  bearing  iu  mind  their  position  and 
callino-,  to  maintain  a  conflict  witli  the  evil  of  the 
world,  to  be  themselves  the  salt  of  the  world. 

As  The  True,  John  designates  him  who  alone  is 
to  be  called  God.  The  world  knows  him  not, 
is  in  a  state  of  estrangement  from  liim.  It  is  in- 
cluded in  the  vevj  idea  of  tlie  world  as  such,  that 
it  gives  to  another  the  honor  which  belongs  to 
God  alone,  that  it  serves  false  gods.  But  believers 
are,  in  their  inward  life  and  spirit,  separated  from 
the  world  by  this,— tbat  the  Son  of  God  has  come, 
and  has  given  to  them  the  perception, -whereby 
they  know  the  true  God.  John  here  assumes  that 
man,  as  he  is  by  nature,  in  his  natural  tendencies, 
cannot  by  the  natural  understanding  attain  to  the 
knowledge  of 'God;  that  the  spirit  must  first  be 
freed  from  the  worldllness  in  which  it  is  ensnared, 
a  new  God-related  sense  must  be  awakened,  in 
order  that  he  may  thereby,  with  the  eyes  of  the 
spirit  enlightened,  know  the  true  God.    John  him- 


314 

self,  tliongb  he  had  heen  brought  up  in  Judaism, 
and  taught  from  early  life  the  knowledge  of  God  ; 
yet  lauks  himself  here  with  Gentile  believers,  as 
one  to  whom  the  Son  of  God  first  imparted  that 
inward  sense,  whereby  he  luight  know  God.  He 
thus  implies  that  he  knew  him  not  before  ;  that 
the  light  of  the  knowledge  of  God  first  dawned 
upon  him,  when  Christ  called  him  from  the  world 
to  himself.  Here  too  is  recognized  the  funda- 
mental truth,  that  it  is  only  through  the  Son  the 
Father  can  be  truly  known.  Hence  it  is  evident, 
that  one  may  acknowledge  God,  may  think  that 
he  knows  him,  may  have  a  kind  of  dead  faith  in 
him  ;  while  yet  he  is  fiir  from  knowing  him,  want- 
ing that  God-related  sense  through  which  only  he 
can  be  truly  known.  '  From  him  that  hath  not,' 
says  our  Lord,  '  shall  l)e  taken  even  that  which  he 
seemeth  to  have.'  So  may  those,  who  have  only 
this  dead  knowledge  of  God,  this  form  without 
life,  find  it  wholly  swept  away  by  the  oVerjDower- 
ing  force  of  the  spirit  of  the  world.-  And  being 
thus  made  conscious  of  their  lack  of  any  principle 
superior  to  the  world,  whereby  they  can  with- 
stand its  power,  and  of  their  wretchedness  in  this 
state  of  estrangement  from  God  and  subjection  to 


315 


the  world ;  they  may  be  led  to  seek  for  that  new 
inward  sense,  which  the  Son  of  God  can  alone  im- 
part, and  whereby  alone  they  can  attain  to  the 
knowledge  of  the  true  God. 

This  true  knowledge  of  God  has  its  root  in  the 
life,  in  fellowship  with  God ;  and  this  can  be  medi- 
ated only  through  his  Son.     Hence  John  reminds 
his  christian  brethren,  that  they  are  in  the  true 
God ;  that  they  live  in  fellowship  with  him,  by 
virtue  of  theii^  union  with  his  Son  ;  that  it  is  there- 
fore  only  in  this  abiding  union  they  can  pei-severe 
in  fellowship  with  God,  and  retain  the  knowledge 
of  the  true  God.     Thereby  alone  will  they  be 
kept  separate  from  the  world,  and  guarded  against 
its  influences.     The  Holy   Scriptures   do  indeed 
recognize,  even  in  this  our  fallen  state,  a  certain 
BEma  m  God,  as  the  inalienable  inheritance  of 
the  God-related,  God-descended  spirit.     So  Paul, 
in  the  seventeenth  chapter  of  the  Acts,  says  :  '  In 
him  we  live,  and  move,  and  have  our  being.'    But 
that  consequent  drawing  from  God  and  towards 
him,  grounded  in  this  moral  relationship  to  him, 
leads  not  to  that  living,  true  knowledge  of  God, 
which  can  sustain  itself  in  conflict  with  the  world. 
Such  a  consciousness  of  the  unknown  God,  of  the 


316 

God  afar  off,  soon  gives  way  before  the  overwhelm- 
ing tide  of  the  world ;  in  the  midst  of  a  world 
lying  in  wickedness,  it  becomes  blinded  and  con- 
fused through  the  influence  of  worldly  tempta- 
tions. Man  cannot,  by  this  dawn  of  a  higher  con- 
sciousness within  him,  maintain  his  faith  in  liis 
own  divine  origin,  and  in  the  God  of  whose  being 
it  admonishes  him.  Tlif^.  scattered  rays,  whose 
light  has  penetrated  the  dark'.iess  of  a  world  lying 
in  wickedness,  are  again  obscured  ;  from  the  world 
ascends  an  impenetrable  cloud,  which  enwraps  his 
spirit,  and  forms  a  separating  wall  between  him 
and  the  Divine.  All  else  is  unavailing,  unless  that 
divine  drawing  lead  his  submissive  spirit  to  the 
Son,  to  be  by  him  made  free,  and  endowed  with 
that  inward  sense  whereby  the  true  God  is 
known. 

John  now  closes  this  truly  noble  Epistle,  with 
the  admonition :   that,  persevering  in 

Ch.  V.  20,  21.]  ... 

union  with  Him  the  only  true  God, 
through  his  Son,  and  in  that  fellowship  of  eternal 
life  received  from  him,  they  keep  themselves  pure 
from  all  contamination  with  Idol-gods.  "  This  is 
the  true  God,  and  eternal  Life.  Little  children, 
keep  yourselves  from  Idols." 


317 

It  might  be  n  question,  whether  the  word  '  This' 
refers  here  to  God,  or  to  the  incarnate  Son  in 
whom  he  has  revealed  himself.  In  either  case,  the 
])ractical  import  of  the  words  is  the  same.  The 
connection,  however,  leads  us  to  regard  the  refer- 
ence to  God  as  the  prominent  one,  since  God  is  af- 
terwards contrasted  with  Idols.  The  Apostle  has 
just  been  contemplating  Christ  as  the  Mediator 
of  this  fellowship  with  God.  Hence  we  must  sup- 
pose, that  in  conclusion  he  sets  forth  this  one  prom- 
inent thought :  This  God,  with  whom  believers 
thus  stand  in  fellowship  through  Christ,  is  the  only 
true  God,  and  hence  is  the  primal  source  of  eter- 
nal life ;  through  him  alone,  therefore,  we  can  be- 
come partakers  of  eternal  life,  in  which  is  con 
tained  the  Sum  of  all  Good,  as  the  highest  good 
for  the  God-related  spirit.  In  him,  therefore,  w€ 
have  all  which  we  need  for  time  and  eternity.  It 
is  true  indeed  as  we  have  seen,  that  Christ  as  the 
only-begotten-Son  of  God,  is  called  by  John  the 
eternal  Life  which  was  with  the  Father,  and  which 
has  appeared  on  earth  in  order  to  impart  itself  tc 
man.  With  these  words  he  commenced  thisEpis 
tie.  But  it  is  also  appi-opi'iute,  that  in  closing  he 
should  point  to  the  Pj-imal  Source,  to  Him  who  is 


318 

Mmself  that  eternal  Life,  wliic-h  has  poured  itself 
forth  into  the  only-begotten-Son,  and  through  him 
into  humanity. 

But  in  order  to  hold  fast  this  highest  posses- 
sion, christians  must  guard  themselves  from  all 
contamination  with  the  idols  worshipped  by  a 
world  lying  in  wickedness.  This  admonition  was, 
in  its  present  form,  intended  for  such  as  lived  in  a 
world  devoted  to  Idol-worship.  Was  then  this 
admonition  intended  only  for  that  age  ?  Has  it 
no  application  to  our  own  time  ?  If  we  well  con- 
sider what  John  understands  by  that  knowledge 
of  the  true  God,  which  can  be  attained  only 
through  the  inward  sense  derived  from  him  and 
imparted  by  the  Son  ;  it  will  thence  be  evident, 
that  where  this  sense  is  wanting,  and  with  it  that 
true  knowledge  of  God,  the  human  spirit,  though 
it  may  profess  to  believe  in  God  and  suppose  it- 
self his  worshipper,  is  yet  far  from  him,  and  is  a 
worshipper  of  idols.  The  world  as  such  ever  has 
its  idols,  to  whom  it  gives  the  honor  due  to  the 
true  God  alone.  In  a  world  which  lies  in  wicked- 
ness, the  children  of  God  will  ever  be  surrounded 
with  idols ;  and  they  can  insure  the  possession  of 
their  highest  good,   only  by  remaining   true  to 


319 

theii'  God,  by  keeping  themselves  aloof  from  all 
contact  with  the  idols  of  the  world.  Specially  ap- 
propriate is  the  application  to  our  own  age,  whose 
ruling  tendency  is  deification  of  Self  and  deifica- 
tion of  the  World  ;  an  age  of  conscious  apostacy 
from  the  only  true  God, — of  a  conscious  idolatry 
of  the  World  and  Self.  For  us,  especially,  there 
is  need  of  the  warning  with  which  John  closes  his 
Epistle :  The  God  whom  Christ  has  revealed,  is 
the  true  God  and  eternal  Life  ;  beware  of  taking 
part  in  the  Idol-worship  of  a  world  lying  in 
wickedness ! 


THE  END. 


THE 


EPISTLE   OF  PAUL 


PHILIPPIANS, 


PEACTICALLY    EXPLAINED, 


DK.  AUGUSTUlo  NEANDEE. 


TRANSLATED   FROM  THE   GERMAN 

BY 

MRS.  H.  C.  CONANT. 


NEW-YOKK: 
SHELDON    &    COMPANY, 

BOSTON:  GOULD  &  LINCOLN. 

CHICAGO  :    8.  C.  GRIGGS. 


Kntoied  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1851, 

BY    LEWIS    COLBY, 

III  the  Clerk"b  office  of  the  Southern  District  of  New  York. 


INTRODUCTION. 

In  offering  the  following  work  of  ISTeander  to  the 
American  public,  some  brief  explanation  of  its  character 
seems  to  be  necessary.  Many,  who  have  only  heard  of 
the  author  as  one  of  the  most  profound  scholars  and 
thinkers  of  the  age,  might  otherwise  be  deterred  from 
reading  it,  by  the  supposition  that  it  was  merely  a  work 
of  learned  criticism.  Such,  however,  is  far  from  being 
the  case.  It  was  the  beginning  of  a  series  of  popular 
practical  commentaries,  intended  to  embrace  the  more 
important  portions  of  the  Bible.  Next  to  the  Epistle  of 
James,  which  was  completed,  and  a  translation  of  which 
we  expect  shortly  to  present  to  the  public,  were  to  follow 
the  Epistles  of  John,  then  the  Gospels,  the  Psalms,  &c., 
as  rapidly  as  the  public  duties  of  the  author  would  allow. 
The  surpassing  excellence  of  the  beginning  makes  us 
deeply  lament  the  loss  to  the  church,  through  the  recent 
death  of  the  great  and  good  Neander,  of  so  rich  an  addi- 
tion to  its  means  of  understanding  the  Scriptures,  and 
one  so  happily  adapted  to  the  wants  of  common  Chris- 
tians. This,  however,  does  no.t  impair  the  value  of  the 
separate  parts,  each  division  being  complete  in  itself; 


IV  INTRODUCTION. 

and  we  cannot  but  rejoice  that,  as  lie  was  not  permitted 
fully  to  carry  out  his  plan,  he  should  have  executed  a 
part  so  appropriate  as  the  closing  labor  of  his  life.  Had 
he  foreseen  that  these  were  to  be  his  last  words  of  coun- 
sel to  his  brethren  in  Christ,  he  could  nowhere  have 
found  freer  scope  for  all  he  wished  to  say  for  their  in- 
struction, comforting,  and  edification,  than  in  a  commen- 
tary on  the  Epistle  to  the  Philippians.  One  might  al- 
most believe,  such  a  fulness  of  pious  feeling  pours  through 
its  pages,  that  he  had  some  such  presage.  Whether  this 
were  so  or  not,  doubtless  He  to  whom  all  events  are 
known  guided  him  in  the  selection ;  and  we  may  receive 
it  as  the  dying  legacy  of  one  of  the  greatest  Christian 
teachers  with  which  God  has  ever  blessed  his  church. 
May  its  instructions  sink  deep  into  the  heart  of  the 
church,  and  bring  forth  fruit  to  the  honor  and  glory  of 
God! 

In  reading  this  commentary,  one  cannot  but  be  forci- 
bly struck  with  the  strong  afi&nity  between  the  character 
of  Paul  and  that  of  his  expounder.  Different  as  were 
their  outward  circumstances  and  course  of  life,  Neander 
seems  to  have  had,  in  his  own  nature  and  spiritual  sym- 
pathies, a  perfect  key  to  those  of  the  Apostle.  Hence  it 
is  that  he  has  surpassed  all  others  in  giving  the  spirit  of 
this  Epistle.  The  grandeur  of  Paul's  spiritual  concep- 
tions, his  personal  aspirations,  his  inward  conflicts,  his 
magnanimity,  tenderness,  and  humility,  his  all-absorbing 
love  for  Christ  and  for  man,  are  delineated  with  a  life 


INTRODUCTION".  V 

and  power  which  onlj  a  kindred  soul  in  the  writer  could 
have  inspired.  His  very  manner  bears  the  same  stamp 
of  resemblance.  Impatient  of  the  niceties  of  minute  crit- 
icism, he  breaks  through  the  mere  outward  form,  the 
shell  of  words  and  phrases,  into  the  very  heart  of  the 
Epistle  ;  and  develops  its  contents,  not  by  a  petty  weigh- 
ing of  particles,  but  by  one  broad,  extended  view  of  the 
whole  scope  of  the  Apostle's  design  and  meaning.  This 
he  illustrates  from  Paul's  history  and  character,  his  pres- 
ent circumstances  and  those  of  the  infant  churches ;  and 
the  whole  glows  with  the  light  and  warmth  of  a  deep 
personal  experience  of  the  Gospel.  Thus,  though  the 
work  is  rich  in  the  results  of  a  learning  as  profound  as  it 
was  various,  the  earnest  and  intelligent,  but  unlearned 
reader,  can  pursue  his  way  unimpeded  by  any  obtrusive 
lumber  of  scholarship.  It  is  indeed  a  beautiful  illustra- 
tion of  what  his  friend  and  colleague,  the  'evangelical 
Strauss,  says  of  him  in  his  funeral  discourse  :  "  He  did  not 
despise  human  knowledge ;  he  sought  for  it  with  unwea 
ried  diligence  ;  he  was  a  master  in  it ;  but  he  laid  all  the 
surprising  treasures  of  his  learning  at  the  foot  of  the 
cross."  To  edify  the  members  of  Christ's  body  was  with 
him  a  greater  object,  than  to  make  a  vain  parade  of  his 
own  superiority  ;  as  to  be  one  with  Christ  was  to  himself, 
personally,  an  immeasurably  greater  object  than  all  hu- 
man learning  or  honor. 

One  characteristic  of  the  work,  which  adds  greatly  to 
its  practical  value,  has  also  a  special  interest  as  showino^ 


VI  INTRODUCTION. 

the  author's  character  under  a  new  aspect ; — we  mean 
the  comprehensive  and  accurate  knowledge  it  exhibits  of 
men  and  their  relations.  It  shows  that  he  was  no  mere 
recluse  scholar,  buried  in  the  past,  with  no  eyes  nor  ears 
for  the  living  world  around  him.  It  is  indeed  a  prob- 
lem, how  a  man  who  so  seldom  went  beyond  his  study 
and  his  lecture  room,  whose  own  relations  to  society  were 
so  few,  and  his  associations  almost  exclusively  among  the 
learned,  could  have  gained  so  much  acquaintance  with 
human  nature,  and  with  the  various  forms  and  phases  of 
Christian  experience.  The  solution  is  to  be  found  in  the 
fact,  that  Neander  had  a  heart  as  well  as  intellect ;  a 
heart  gifted  by  nature  with  the  largest  hunian  sympa- 
thies, and  from  early  life  penetrated  by  the  spirit  of  Chris- 
tian benevolence.  Man  his  brother,  man  whom  God  had 
created  and  for  whom  Christ  had  died,  was  to  him  an 
object  of  unspeakable  interest,  and  nothing  was  unim- 
portant which  affected  his  character  and  prospects. 
Hence,  from  the  little  that  he  mingled  with  men  he 
learned  much  of  man ;  and  he  applies  the  inspired  in- 
structions with  a  discrimination  and  point,  which  show 
that  no  generic  differences  in  human  character  had  es- 
caped him.  It  is  a  matter  of  no  little  interest,  to  know 
what  views  of  man  were  received  from  this  study  by  a 
mind  like  Neander's.  It  is  plain  that  he  cherished  no 
high-wrouglit  notions  of  the  natural  goodness  and  per- 
fectibility of  the  race.  Yet  he  did  not  turn  from  the 
weak  and  erring  being  with  philosophic  contempt,  or 


INTRODUCTION.  VU 

thank  God  that  he  was  not  as  other  men  are.  His  was 
the  earnest,  penetrating  scrutiny  of  a  Christian  philan- 
thropist, seeking  to  know  his  brother's  wants  in  order 
that  Christian  love  might  supply  them.  Though  he  was 
no  believer  in  inherent  human  goodness,  he  was  a  firm 
believer  in  the  efficacy  of  the  great  remedy  for  man's 
moral  diseases.  Hence  the  clearer  perception  of  his  ru- 
ined and  lost  state,  only  awoke  more  strongly  the  love 
which  yearned  to  bring  relief  The  spirit  of  Keander's 
life  and  writings  furnish  sufficient  proof,  if  proof  were 
still  wanting,  that  the  clear  recognition  of  man's  entire 
moral  perversion  is  the  basis  for  all  true  love  of  human- 
ity. His  practical  wisdom,  as  well  as  the  tenderness  of 
his  heart,  are  beautifully  exhibited  in  his  treatment  of 
the  yet  immature  believer.  The  germ  of  divine  life, 
planted  in  a  human  heart,  is  an  object  which  engages  all 
his  interest.  The  causes  which  may  obstruct  its  free  de- 
velopment, as  found  in  the  various  forms  of  self-decep- 
tion, in  the  power  of  early  prejudice,  and  not  less  in  the 
over-hasty  zeal  or  unchristian  harshness  of  brethren,  are 
touched  with  admirable  skill.  If  his  lessons  of  rigid  self- 
scrutiny,  trying  as  by  fire  every  thought  and  motive  of 
our  own  hearts,  and  of  a  fraternal  charity,  quick  to  dis- 
cern and  acknowledge  and  tenderly  to  cherish  the  faint- 
est signs  of  grace  in  others,  were  carried  into  practice  by 
every  disciple  of  Christ,  who  can  doubt  the  speedy  in- 
crease of  spiritual  life,  of  unity,  and  of  moral  power  in 
the  church ! 


VUl  INTRODUCTION. 

Another  not  less  interesting  point  is  ttie  simply  scrip- 
tural character  of  his  theology,  of  the  exhibition  here 
given  of  the  essential  doctrines  of  the  Gospel.  Christ, 
the  Crucified  and  the  Eisen,  as  the  one  foundation  of  the 
church,  the  living  root  from  whom  proceeds  all  spiritual . 
life  and  growth  ;  man  as  a  sinful  and  lost  being,  depend- 
ing for  regeneration  and  sanctification  on  the  influences 
of  the  Holy  Spirit ;  the  utter  insufficiency  of  human 
works  as  the  ground  of  salvation ;  a  holy  life  as  the 
necessary  fruit  of  holy  love ;  these,  no  man  since  Paul 
has  more  eloquently  enforced  than  Neander.  In  devel- 
oping Paul's  theology,  deep  religious  experience  supplied 
to  him  that  light,  for  the  lack  of  which  so  many  have 
misunderstood  and  perverted  the  meaning  of  the  great 
Apostle.  The  natural  man,  and  the  spiritual  man,  desig- 
nate with  him  radical  distinctions  of  character.  The  ten- 
dencies of  the  natural  man,  however  beautiful  his  social 
and  even  religious  virtues  to  human  view,  are  yet,  as 
springing  from  self  and  ending  in  self,  radically  wrong ; 
the  tendencies  of  the  spiritual  man,  as  springing  from 
God  and  ending  in  God,  are  radically  right.  But  the 
spiritual  man,  and  the  j)erfect  man,  are  not  with  him  in- 
terchangeable terms.  The  Christian  life  is  an  unceasing 
conflict  with  inward  depravity ;  that  we  persevere  in  this 
conflict  to  the  end,  the  only  reliable  proof  that  we  belong 
to  Christ.  The  Christian's  standard  of  character  is  per- 
fection, is  Christ ;  his  ever  increasing  sense  of  unlikeness 
to  this  faultless  model,  the  strongest  evidence  that  he  is 


INTRODUCTION.  IX 

becoming  more  and  more  assimilated  to  it.  This  sense 
of  unlik<^ness,  while  it  humbles  and  stimulates,  does  not 
disquiet  the  believer ;  for  his  confidence  and  his  affec- 
tions are  placed  on  a  nobler  object  than  self,  were  it  in  a 
state  of  absolute  perfection.  The'  incarnate  "Word,  the 
brightness  of  the  Father's  glory  and  the  express  image 
of  his  person,  once  humbled  in  humanity,  now  reigning 
in  divine  glory,  is  the  centre  of  all  his  aspirations  and 
hopes,  the  life  of  his  life,  his  all  in  all.  An  affecting 
proof  of  Neander's  personal  consciousness  of  these  truths, 
was  given  on  the  evening  of  his  last  year's  birth-day. 
His  pupils  having,  as  is  customary  in  German  universi- 
ties on  such  occasions,  honored  their  beloved  teacher 
with  a  torch-light  procession  and  a  eulogistic  address,  he 
replied  by  a  pathetic  confession  of  human  weakness,  and 
spoke  of  himself  as  a  sinner  needing  forgiveness  through 
the  blood  of  Christ.  The  whole  course  of  his  inward  and 
outward  religious  life  corresponded  fully  to  this  expres- 
sion. "As  to  be  a  Christian,"  says  Strauss,  "  nothing  but 
a  Christian  saved  by  grace,  was  all  his  desire  in  his  in- 
ward experience,  so  in  his  calling  he  desired  only  to  be  a 
servant  of  Christ."  The  love  of  Christ  to  his  people,  as 
developed  in  the  past  history  of  the  church,  was  his  most 
interesting  subject  of  contem;glation.  In  his  hands, 
Church  History  became  not  a  mere  record  of  the  mis- 
takes of  the  human  spirit,  but  primarily,  a  record  of  the 
miracles  of  the  love  of  Jesus.     And  often,  saj^s  his  friend, 

his  voice  trembled  and  his  whole  heart  gushed  forth, 
1* 


X  INTRODUCTION. 

Avhcn  narrating  individual  experiences  of  grace,  exempli- 
fying the  love  of  Christ.  What  a  beautiful  illustration 
of  his  own  favorite  maxim,  "  It  is  the  heart  that  makes 
the  Theologian  !"  The  modesty  of  his  Theology  is  not 
less  marked  than  its  scriptural  character.  Our  knowl- 
edge of  God  and  divine  things,  though  all-sufficient  for 
our  present  need,  in  his  view  is  necessarily  fragmentary 
and  imperfect ;  "  to  be  cast  aside  when  we  are  raised  to 
the  full  vision  of  the  life  above,  as  the  conceptions  of 
childhood  are  cast  aside  by  the  mature  man,"  How 
habitually  this  conviction  was  present  to  his  mind,  is 
pleasingly  illustrated  by  the  circumstance,  that  when 
called  on  for  an"  autograph  to  accompany  his  engraved 
portrait,  he  wrote  for  the  purpose  the  words :  "  Now  we 
see  through  a  glass  darkly,  but  then  face  to  face." 

The  closing  scenes  in  the  life  of  this  eminent  servant 
of  Christ,  seem  like  the  reflection  of  that  conflict  which 
he  so  admirably  depicts  in  the  heart  of  Paul,  between  the 
longing  to  depart  and  be  with  Christ,  and  the  desire  still 
to  live  that  he  may  labor  for  the  salvation  of  his  breth- 
ren. To  labor  for  Christ  was,  as  with  Paul,  his  life  on 
earth.  Apart  from  this  work,  life  had  no  value,  no  sig- 
nificance. While  he  lived  he  must  labor ;  and  even  after 
the  hand  of  death  had  touched  his  long  diseased  body, 
he  still  strove  to  compel  its  services  in  his  appointed  call- 
ing in  God's  kingdom.  This  calling  was  one  which  en- 
listed all  the  energies  and  affections  of  his  soul.  To  be 
tlie  instructor  of  youth  in  the  Holy  Scriptures,  and  the 


INTRODUCTION.  xi 

historian  of  the  Church,  was  a  high  destiny  ;  and  his  de- 
votion to  it  had  all  the  ardor  of  a  ruling  passion.  His 
history  he  had  now  brought  down  to  the  period  of  the 
Reformation  ;  and  with  a  mind  unimpaired  by  age  or  dis- 
ease, and  glowing  with  his  theme,  he  was  about  entering 
on  the  development  of  that  central  epoch  of  modern 
Christianity,  when  the  summons  came  to  lay  aside  the 
earthly  for  the  heavenlj^  How  his  heart  clung  to  his 
life-work,  is  affectingly  shown  in  the  sketch  of  his  last 
hours  by  his  attached  friend  and  pupil  Eauh.  We  give 
the  substance  of  the  account. 

He  was  at  his  desk  in  his  lecture  room,  on  Monday, 
when  the  attack  came  upon  him.  Inured  to  pain,  and 
accustomed  to  master  it  by  his  powerful  will,  he  per- 
severed in  completing  the  exercise ;  though  the  broken 
tones  of  his  voice,  at  times  almost  inaudible  from  de- 
bility, forced  upon  his  affectionate  auditors  the  con- 
viction expressed  in  the  touching  language  of  one  of 
their  number :  "  This  is  the  last  lecture  of  our  Nean- 
der  ! "  He  reached  home  in  a  state  of  great  exhaustion. 
But  after  some  slight  refreshment,  he  immediately  re- 
sumed his  usual  afternoon  employments.  For  three 
successive  hours,  though  often  interrupted  by  increasing 
weakness,  he  dictated  on  his  Church  History.  Late  in 
the  afternoon,  the  symptoms  of  dangerous  illness  becom- 
ing more  and  more  marked,  his  anxious  sister  insisted 
that  he  should  give  himself  rest.  But  he  could  not  be 
persuaded  to  quit  his  work.     "  Nay,  let  me  go  on  !"  he 


Xll  INTRODUCTION. 

exclaimed  :  "  can  every  day-laborer  work  as  much  as  lie 
will,  and  would  you  deny  it  to  me  !"  At  length  he  was 
obliged  to  yield,  and  allow  himself  to  be  conveyed  to 
bed.  The  next  morning  he  was  forced,  by  the  increased 
violence  of  his  malady,  to  consent  that  his  usual  lecture 
should  be  deferred ;  "  but,"  as  he  expressly  added,  "  only 
for  to-day  !"  From  this  time  it  was  an  incessant  struggle 
for  supremacy  between  the  mind  and  the  body.  In  the 
afternoon,  he  called  imperatively  for  his  reader ; "  and 
blamed  his  over-anxious  friends  for  having  sent  him 
away,  and  thus  interrupted  his  progress  in  a  work  with 
which  he  was  engaged,  Eitter's  Palestine.  He  then  lis- 
tened to  the  reading  of  the  newspaper  by  another  pupil, 
with  earnest  attention  ;  selected  what  he  wished  to  hear, 
and  commented  on  this  and  that  of  its  contents,  till  at 
length  a  heavy  slumber  overpowered  him.  The  next 
day  also,  the  daily  paper  being  read  to  him  as  usual,  the 
mention  of  some  occurrence  in  the  Church  drew  from 
him  an  exclamation  of  humorous  contempt  at  the  modish 
spirit  of  the  day  ;  an  expressive  shrug  indicated  his  dis- 
satisfaction at  another.  This  day  he  experienced  a  little 
relief,  from  the  refreshment  of  a  more  quiet  night,  which 
encouraged  his  desponding  friends.  But  on  Friday  eve- 
ning the  last  ray  of  hope  was  extinguished.  Paralysis, 
the  result  of  his  exhausting  disease,  seized  upon  the  kid- 
neys.    The  fatal  hiccough  set  in.  and  allowed  not  a  mo- 

*  An  affection  of  the  eyes,  -wluch  had  increased  almost  to  blindness,  had 
for  some  two  years  rendered  such  assistance  necessary. 


INTRODUCTION.  Xlil 

ment's  sleep.  This  scene  of  distress  continued  four  hours, 
without  mitigation.  Groans  were  forced  from  him  bj 
the  extremity  of  his  anguish  ;  and  he  was  heard  praying 
in  a  weak  and  plaintive  tone,  which  drew  tears  from 
every  eye,  "  Oh  God  !  that  I  might  sleep  !"  But  the  en- 
ergy of  his  spirit  was  not  yet  quenched.  The  next  after- 
noon, though  in  an  agony  of  pain,  the  longing  to  be  again 
at  work  in  his  great  calling  seemed  to  awaken  in  fall 
force.  He  insisted  that  he  would  no  longer  be  confined 
in  bed ;  and  with  a  feverish  impatience,  never  seen  in 
him  before,  ordered  a  servant  to  bring' his  clothes  that  he 
might  rise.  A  pupil  who  was  at  hand  vainly  tried  to 
soothe  him.  Even  his  sister's  entreaties  were  of  no  avail, 
till  she  said  to  him :  "  Eemember,  dear  Augustus,  your 
own  words  to  me,  when  I  resisted  the  physician's  orders, 
— '  It  is  all  from  God,  and  we  must  yield  cheerfully  to  his 
will !'  "  ''  True,"  he  gently  rephed  in  an  altered  tone ; 
"  it  all  comes  from  God,  and  we  must  thank  him  for  it !" 
Through  all  the  variations  of  his  sickness,  his  wonted 
tender  consideration  for  his  friends  did  not  forsake  him. 
He  would  not  allow  his  pupils  to  neglect  their  duties  in 
order  to  attend  upon  him  ;  watched  lest  his  sister  should 
not  take  needful  rest,  and  received  every  slight  service 
with  the  most  touching  gratitude.  Even  when  scarcely 
able  to  speak,  from  pain  and  weakness,  he  would  make 
the  utmost  effort  to  express  his  thankfulness.  One  little 
characteristic  trait  deserves  to  be  mentioned.  His  large 
income,  always  devoted  more  to  others  than  himself,  was 


XIV  INTRODUCTION. 

yet  insufBicient  for  his  multiplied  charities,  so  that  he  was 
often  perplexed  and  distressed  when  he  found  a  new  ob- 
ject of  compassion  which  he  had  not  the  means  of  re- 
lieving. He  practised  the  most  rigid  economy  in  his  own 
personal  expenses,  that  he  might  have  more  for  others. 
Every  luxury  was  in  his  view  a  robbery  of  the  poor.  So 
fixed  were  his  habits  in  this  respect,  that  when  a  little 
champagne  was  offered  him  during  this  last  sickness,  he 
promptly  refused  it  with  the  expression,  "  0  that  is  a 
foolish  indulgence  I" 

The  final  scene  is  one  most  characteristic  of  the  man, 
as  well  as  one  of  the  most  striking  ever  witnessed  in  the 
chamber  of  death.  A  wine  bath  had  been  prepared  for 
him,  as  a  last  resort.  Eefreshed  and  strengthened  by  it, 
he  was  borne  from  the  darkened  room  where  he  had  lain 
hitherto  into  his  study,  that  cheerful  little  apartment 
opening  to  the  sun,  which  had  been  so  long  the  work- 
shop and  the  paradise  of  the  man  of  thought.  Here  for 
nearly  twenty  years  he  had  studied  and  written.  From 
this  spot  had  gone  forth  those  great  works  which  have 
delighted  and  instructed  Christendom.  "With  thirsty 
glances  he  drank  in  the  full  golden  sunlight,  of  which  he 
was  always  so  fond.*  A  spoonful  of  choice  wine  being 
offered  him,  he  did  not  reject  it, — "a  significant  omen," 

*  In  this  also,  "  a  child  of  the  light,"  as  he  sportively  called  himself 
(draJoj  Tov  fiViov)  a  few  days  before.  "  This  I  have," — said  he  on  that  oc- 
casion,— "  in  common  with  the  emperor  Julian ;  but  that,"  he  added, 
"  Strauss  must  not  know  1" 


INTRODUCTION.  XV 

says  Rauh,  "  that  the  old  order  of  things  approached  its 
end."  Ere  long  he  murmured  dreamily,  as  if  at  the  close 
of  a  long  fatiguing  walk  with  his  sister,  "  I  am  weary  ; 
let  us  now  make  ready  to  go  home  !"  Just  then  the  rich 
sunset  glow,  pouring  through  the  window,  lighted  up  the 
shelves  from  which  looked  down  upon  him  the  masters 
of  thought,  with  whom  for  so  many  years  he  had  held 
silent  but  high  and  endearing  communion.  Raising  him- 
self by  a  sudden  effort  from  his  pillow,  he  commenced  a 
regular  lecture  upon  New  Testament  exegesis.  Soon  a 
new  image  passed  before  his  restless  fancy.  Imagining 
himself  at  the  weekly  meeting  of  his  beloved  Semina- 
rium,  surrounded  by  his  fondly  attached  theological  pu- 
pils, he  called  for  the  reading  of  a  dissertation,  shortly 
before  assigned,  on  the  material  and  formal  principle  of 
the  Reformation.  He  then  dictated  the  titles  of  the  dif- 
ferent courses  of  lectures  to  be  delivered  by  him  during 
the  next  session ;  among  them,  •'  The  Gospel  of  John, 
from  its  true  historical  point  of  view."  His  last  thoughts 
amid  the  struggles  of  death,  were  devoted  to  the  great 
labor  of  his  life.  Beginning  at  the  very  passage  of  his 
Church  History  where  sickness  had  arrested  his  progress, 
he  resumed  the  thread  of  thought,  and  in  spite  of  inter- 
ruptions, continued  to  dictate  in  regular  periods  for  some 
time.  At  the  close  of  each  sentence  he  paused,  as  if  his 
amanuensis  were  taking  down  his  words,  and  asked, 
"  Are  you  ready  ?"  Having  closed  a  division  of  his  sub- 
ject, he  inquired  the  time      Being  told  that  it  was  half- 


XVI  INTRODUCTION. 

past  nine,  the  patient  sufferer  repeated  once  more :  "  I 
am  weary  ;  I  will  now  go  to  sleep  !"  Having  by  the  aid 
of  friendly  hands  stretched  himself  in  bed  for  his  last 
slumber,  he  whispered  in  a  tone  of  inexpressible  tender 
ness,  which  sent  a  strange  thrill  through  every  heart  : 
"  Good  night !"  It  was  his  last  word.  He  immediately 
fell  into  a  sleep,  which  continued  four  hours  ;  when  his 
great  spirit,  in  the  quiet  of  a  Sabbath  morning,  passed 
gently  into  the  land  of  peace. — What  a  commentary  on 
his  own  exhortation  so  lately  uttered  ;  that  "  the  Chris- 
tian should  ever  remember  that  here  all  is  fragmentary, 
nothing  reaches  completion ;  that  even  service  in  the 
cause  of  Christ  on  earth,  is  but  the  beginning  of  an  ac- 
tivity destined  for  eternity  ;  that  we  must  therefore  not 
be  so  absorbed,  even  in  labors  consecrated  to  God,  as  to 
be  unprepared  to  obey,  at  any  moment,  the  summons  to 
the  higher  life  and  service  of  Heaven  !"  He  was  so  pre- 
pared, that  when  his  ear  caught  the  summons,  he  could 
drop  the  great  labor  of  his  life  unfmished,  lay  himself 
down  quietly  upon  his  bed,  and  with  a  child-like  "  Good 
Night"  to  those  whom  he  left  behind,  slumber  over  (as  the 
German  beautifully  expresses  it)  into  that  higher  life  of 
heaven. 

Before  closing,  the  translator  would  beg  of  those  con- 
versant with  the  author's  manner  in  the  original,  as  favor- 
able a  judgment  of  her  work  as  justice  will  allow.  They 
can  best  appreciate  the  difficulty  of  the  task.  It  has  been 
her  aim,  not  merely  to  give  a  faithful  rendering  of  the 


INTRODUCTION.  XVli 

author's  ideas,  in  an  easy  English  style,  but  to  reproduce 
them,  so  far  as  possible,  in  their  original  form  and  mould. 
The  elephantine  march  of  his  style  suits,  as  no  other 
could,  to  the  great  burden  of  his  thoughts ;  which,  more- 
over, are  so  combined  and  massed  together,  that  not  only 
would  the  manner  be  lost  by  much  breaking  up  of  his 
sentences,  but  the  connection  and  relation  of  the  differ 
ent  parts  be  seriously  impaired. 


H.  C.  C. 


Rochester,  N.  Y. 
Sept.  1851. 


EPISTLE    OF    PAUL 


THE    PHILIPPIANS 


If  tlie  Spirit  of  God  has  revealed  to  holy  men  of 
old  the  v/ord  of  truth,  that  they  might  proclaim  it 
for  the  salvation  of  mankind  ;  if  God  has  revealed 
himself  through  their  lives,  their  discourses,  their 
writings,  as  the  depositaries  of  his  Sj^irit ;  this  is 
not  to  be  regarded  merely  as  an  isolated  fact 
belonging  solely  to  the  past.  To  us  as  hving 
members  of  the  body  of  Christ,  as  partakers  in 
that  fellowship  of  his  Spirit,  which  unites  the  in- 
stant of  the  present  with  the  whole  progressive 
development  since  the  first  outpouring  of  the  same 
Spirit  by  the  glorified  Son  of  man,  to  us,  this 
should  be  no  external,  no  foreign  thing.  The  past 
must  become  to  us  the  present.  "We  need  no 
further  revelations.  On  the  contrary,  it  must  be 
to  us  as  if  the  Lord  had  himself  at  this  moment 


20  ,  PHILIPPIANS. 

spoken  to  us,  inasmucli  as  lie  lias  given  us  the  in- 
struction required  for  all  the  higher  necessities  of 
the  present ;  as  if  he  had  himself  said  to  us  all 
which  it  concerns  us  to  know,  in  order  to  find  con- 
solation under  present  sufferings,  the  means  of  cer- 
tain victory  in  all  conflicts,  the  clue  to  guide  us 
out  of  all  the  perplexities  of  a  distracted  age  safely 
to  our  goal..  For  the  attainment  of  this  object, 
we  must  carefully  investigate  the  precise  histori- 
cal conditions  and  relations  under  which  these 
depositaries  of  the  Divine  Spirit  spoke  and  acted. 
We  must  transfer  ourselves  into  that  past  time,  so 
as  to  live,  as  it  were,  in  the  midst  of  the  circum- 
stances under  which  these  holy  men  acted,  and  in 
reference  to  which  they  spoke.  The  objects  of 
divine  wisdom  in  its  guidance  of  the  Church,  we 
perceive  in  this,  viz.,  that  divine  truth  has  been 
revealed  to  us,  not  in  a  law  of  the  letter,  not  in  a 
digested  summary  of  specific  articles  of  faith,  but 
in  this  historical  embodiment,  in  this  application  to 
individual  cases,  to  specific  historical  circumstances 
and  social  relations,  imparted  through  the  instru- 
mentality of  individual  men,  who  lived  as  deposi- 
taries of  divine  truth  among  their  fellow-men  ; 
who,  in  the  common  intercom'se  of  human  life. 


PHILIPPIANS.  21 

testified  of  and  revealed  tlie  divine,  speaking  and 
acting  as  men,  each  in  his  own  peculiar  human 
manner,  though  hallowed  indeed  by  the  Spirit  of 
God.  Thus  was  divine  truth  to  be  brought  hu- 
manly near  to  us.  Thus  to  our  own  spiritual  ac- 
tivity. Tinder  the  guiding  and  quickening  influence 
of  the  Spirit  of  God,  without  Avhom  nothing  divine 
can  be  received  or  understood,  was  to  be  left  the 
work  of  investigating  the  divine  in  its  connection 
wdth  the  human;  from  the  particular  to  deduce 
the  universal ;  and  again,  by  an  application  of  this 
to  the  peculiar  circumstances  of  the  age  and  society 
in  which  v/e  live,  to  reconvert  it  into  the  particular 
for  ourselves  ;  to  detect  in  that  which  was  said  oi 
done  by  the  organs  of  Christ's  Spirit,  under  the 
peculiar  circumstances  of  the  past,  whatever  is  ap- 
plicable for  our  u^e  to  the  circumstances  and  rela- 
tions of  the  present.  Whilst,  therefore,  an  humble 
dependence  on  that  Divine  Spirit,  who  alone  leads 
into  all  truth,  and  unlocks  the  depths  of  his  word, 
is  an  indispensable  condition  to  the  right  under- 
standing and  application  of  the  Divine  Word  in  its 
human  embodiment ;  so  also  is  a  careful  attention 
to  all  the  human  relations.  The  w^ord  of  God 
allows   no  slothful  hearers;    it  demands  all  the 


22  PHILIPPIANS. 

powei-s  of  tlie  mind  and  soul.  Only  tlius  can  its 
treasures  be  brought  to  liglit.  If  we  fail  of  dis- 
covering these  treasures,  and  lament  over  the  want 
of  light  to  illumine  the  darkness  of  the  present 
state,  it  is  because  we  have  not  met  the  required 
conditions.  We  have  none  to  reproach  but  our- 
selves. We  may  here  apply  those  weighty  words 
of  our  Lord,  adapted  no  less  to  stimulate  and  en- 
courage diligent  inquiry,  than  for  warning  and  re- 
buke :  "  He  that  hath,  to  him  shall  be  given." 

In  an  especial  manner  is  this  true  of  the  Letters 
of  the  Apostles.  In  these  we  should  find  far  more 
to  instruct,  edify,  and  guide  us  in  all  the  relations 
of  life,  if  we  thus  weighed  the  import  of  every 
word.  May  the  Spirit  of  the  Loi'd  enlighten  and 
<^uide  us,  that  we  may  in  this  manner  understand, 
and  learn  to  apply,  one  of  the  noblest  epistles  of 
the  Apostle  Paul,  written  as  no  other  could  write, 
and  presenting  to  our  eyes  the  living  image  of  the 
Apostle  to  the  Gentiles ! 

.  First,  then,  we  must  bring  before  our  view  the 
peculiar  circumstances  and  relations,  under  which 
Paul  wrote  this  epistle.  Zeal  for  the  salvation  of 
the  heathen  world  had  drawn  upon  him  the  ex- 
tremest    persecution  of   the  enraged  Jews,  who 


PHILIPPIANS.  23 

grudged  to  the  Gentiles  an  equal  participation  and 
t^qual  privileges  witli  themselves,  in  tlie  kingdom 
of  God.  To  this  was  owing  his  apprehension  at 
Jerusalem,  his  long  imprisonment  in  Cesarea  Stra- 
tonis,  and  finally,  through  his  appeal  to  Caesar,  his 
captivity  at  Rome.  The  issue  of  his  fate  was  stil] 
uncertain.  In  his  imprisonment,  he  was  far  less 
occupied  with  anxiety  for  his  own  life,  than  for  the 
welfare  of  the  churches,  scattered  through  various 
regions,  who  through  the  dangers  which  beset  their 
Apostolic  teacher  might  become  unsettled  in  their 
faith,  deprived,  as  they  were,  of  his  personal  gui- 
dance in  this  dark  and  troubled  period.  Through 
his  pupils  and  associates  in  the  preaching  of  the 
gospel,  who  now  formed  the  living  link  between 
him  and  these  churches,  and  through  his  letters, 
must  the  want  be  supplied.  Among  these  churches 
was  that  of  Philippi  in  Macedonia.  It  was  the  first 
church  which  Paul  had  founded  in  that  country. 
Its  members  had  been  witnesses  of  the  ignominy 
and  suffering  endured  by  Paul,  on  account  of  the 
gospel,  as  recorded  in  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles. 
They  had  witnessed  the  example  he  gave  of  bold- 
ness in  the  faith,  of  devotion  to  the  Lord,  of  tri- 
umphant enthusiasm  in  his  service,  his  joyfulness  in 


24  PHILIPPIANS. 

suffering,  and  tlie  wonderful  deliverances  wrought 
for  liim  by  tlie  Lord.  This  Lad  served,  in  a  spe- 
cial manner,  to  give  greater  depth  and  ardor  to 
their  love  for  him,  who  was  ready  to  sacrifice  all 
that  he  might  bring  them  the  glad  tidings  of  sal- 
vation. They  followed  the  example  of  their  faith- 
ful teacher.  As  yet,  indeed,  Christianity  had  not 
drawn  upon  itself  the  attention  of  tlie  Koman  civil 
power  ;  nor  had  it  become  an  ol)ject  of  persecution 
through  the  state  laws,  as  from  its  opposition  to  the 
national  religion  must  soon  be  the  ease,  under  a 
civil  constitution  with  which  this  was  intimately  in- 
terwoven. Accordingly  no  general  persecution  had 
arisen,  and  the  churches  in  most  regions  enjoyed 
peace.  In  this  respect,  however,  Macedonia  form- 
ed an  exception.  Here,  from  the  very  first,  the 
malignant  hatred  of  the  Jews,  who  were  scattered 
in  great  numbers  through  the  commercial  cities, 
had  been  excited  against  the  preachers  of  the  gos- 
pel, and  all  who  embraced  it ;  and  they  had  not 
wanted  means  for  producing  discord  between  the 
believei-3  and  their  fellow-citizens  and  associates 
among  the  heathen.  Although  no  civil  laws  as  yet 
existed  against  Christianity,  still  there  were  means 
by  which  the  heathen  could,  in  many  ways,  dis- 


PHILIPPIANS.  25 

quiet  and  injure  its  new  converts,  distinguislied  by 
their  life  and  conversation  in  so  striking  a  manner 
from  themselves.  In  the  history  of  modern  mis- 
sions the  same  thing  is  repeated,  in  the  intercourse 
between  the  new  converts  and  their  former  heathen 
associates.  The  church  at  Philippi  remained 
steadfast  under  all  these  persecutions.  Their  faith 
and  love  had  been  approved  thereby.  Neither 
could  they  be  unsettled  in  their  faith,  by  the  per- 
secutions which  had  now  befallen  their  Apostolic 
teacher.  They  were  conscious  of  that  higher  fel- 
lowship with  him  under  all  his  conflicts  and  suffer- 
ings. His  sufferings,  and  the  dangers  which  hung 
over  him,  but  added  new  fuel  to  their  love  and  sym- 
pathy. To  manifest  this  to  him  they  had  sent  one 
of  their  own  number,  Epaphroditus,  who  might 
also  bring  back  to  them  more  exact  information  of 
his  circumstances.  We  know  that  although  the 
right  had  been  given  to  the  Apostles,  by  the  Lord, 
to  depend  for  their  temporal  necessities  upon  those 
for  whose  spiritual  welfare  they  labored,  yet  Paul 
never  availed  himself  of  this  privilege.  As  the 
attracting  and  recovering  grace  of  the  LoTd  had 
been  exhibited  towards  him  in  so  peculiar  a  man- 
ner ;  as  it  had  transformed  him  from  the  bitterest 


26  PHILIPPIANS. 

persecutor  into  the  ])reaclier  of  the  gospel ;  he  felt 
himself  constrained  to  do  more  than  others,  called 
by  Christ  in  the  ordinary  way,  and  gradually  fit- 
ted for  his  service,  and  to  forbear  the  exercise  of 
a  right  to  which  he  was  equally  entitled  with  them. 
Thrust,  as  it  were,  by  force  into  the  work,  ho 
would,  by  more  abundant  labor,  endurance,  priva- 
tion, manifest  his  unconstrained  love  for  his  ap- 
pointed calling. — (1  Cor.  ix.  lY-19.)  It  is  to  be 
accounted  his  gift,  growing  out  of  his  peculiar  na- 
ture sanotified  by  the  Holy  Spirit,  that  he  was  able 
to  number  himself  among  those  whom  Christ  pro- 
nounces blessed,  for  having  forborne  marriage  for 
the  kingdom  of  God's  sake.  Not  that  he  would 
call  them  blessed  on  account  of  the  state  of  celib- 
acy, in  and  for  itself;  as  if  Paul  could  claim  any 
advantage  over  Peter,  who  in  a  marriage  consecra- 
ted by  the  Lord,  labored  for  the  advancement  of 
the  same  cause  ;  but  on  account  of  the  spirit  which 
led  them  to  abstain  from  marriage,  that  love  which 
would  offer  up  all  to  the  kingdom  of  God.  It  was 
this  which  animated  Paul,  and  impelled  him  to 
contemplate  as  a  duty  whatever  might,  under  his 
special  circumstances,  serve  for  the  advancement 
of  his  work,  and  to  undertake  it  with  joyful  zeal. 


PHILIPPIANS.  27 

It  was  for  this  also,  that  amidst  the  labors  of 
preaching,  he  sustained  himself  with  his  own  hands 
as  a  tent-maker.  He  experienced  in  himself  the 
truth  of  the  Lord's  words,  "  It  is  more  blessed  to 
give  than  to  receive."  In  order  to  avoid  e very- 
appearance  of  self-seeking,  and  to  take  from  the 
opposers  among  the  Jews  and  Judaizing  Christians 
every  occasion  of  suspicion,  he  himself  assumed  the 
whole  charge  of  his  temporal  support.  Still  the 
church  at  Philippi  were  moved,  by  their  heartfelt 
love  to  him,  to  anticipate  his  wants ;  and  knowing 
how  difficult  he  must  often  find  it  to  earn  a  main- 
tenance, they  had  several  times  sent  sums  of  money 
for  his  necessities.  Paul,  though  he  sought  no  gift, 
yet,  in  view  of  the  feeling  which  prompted  it, 
could  not  reject  the  free-will-offering  of  love.  This 
church  had  now  once  more  manifested  in  this  way 
their  active  sympathy  for  Paul,  by  sending  to  him 
Epaj^hroditus.  This  circumstance,  and  what  he 
learned  through  their  messenger  of  the  condition 
of  the  Philippian  church,  occasioned  the  writing 
of  this  epistle.  Its  object  was  to  express  to  the 
church  at  Philippi  his  gratitude  and  love ;  to  re- 
lieve their  anxiety  respecting  his  own  situation ; 
to  give  them  a  view  of  his  Christian  state  and  tem- 


28  PHILIPPIANS. 

per  in  tlie  midst  of  liis  conflicts  and  dangers ;  and 
to  "bestow  upon  tliem  tlie  counsels  and  encourage- 
ments suited  to  their  peculiar  circumstances. 

We  must  now,  therefore,  direct  our  view  to 
Paul's  situation  in  his  imprisonment  at  Rome ;  to 
his  demeanor  in  his  captivity,  as  the  mirror  of 
the  state  of  his  soul,  so  far  as  we  can  learn  it  from 
this  letter ;  and  to  his  counsels  to  the  Philippian 
church,  in  reference  to  their  peculiar  relations,  as 
furnishing  suggestions  applicable  in  numerous  ways 
to  similar  circumstances. 

Looking  first  then  at  Paul's  situation,  we  shall 
perceive  that  this  was  adapted  to  pi-odnce  great 
variations  of  feeling.  He  had  given  his  public 
testimony  for  the  Lord  Jesus,  and  had  made  his 
own  defence.  This  defence  had  produced  the  gen- 
eral impression,  that  it  was  not  as  a  disturber  of 
the  public  peace  that  this  imprisonment  had  be- 
fallen him,  nor  for  any  other  crime ;  but  only  as 
the  preacher  of  a  religion  hated  by  the  Jews.* 
Against  this  new  faith,  as  we  have  already  re- 
marked, there  existed  as  yet  no  state  law.  If  now 
Paul  could  triumphantly  establish  his  innocence 
in  this  respect,  it  would  seem  that  his  safety  was 

*  Chap.i.  13 


PHILIPPIANS.  29 

secured.  But  tlie  Roman  civil  laws  ever  regarded 
an  individual  as  in  some  degree  criminal,  who 
should  seduce  the  citizens  and  subjects  of  the  em- 
pire to  apostasy  from  the  state  religion;  and 
should  attempt  to  make  proselytes  to  a  new  faith, 
which,  if  not  condemned  by  an  express  law,  was 
yet  in  its  nature  opposed  to  the  religion  of  the 
state,  and  was  not  of  the  number  recognized  by 
it  as  tolerated  religions.  Paul's  case  was,  therefore, 
by  no  means  so  simple  a  one.  Many  difficult  ques- 
tions were  involved  in  it.  At  times,  the  impres- 
sion made  by  his  public  defence  would  awaken  in 
him  the  expectation  of  a  happy  deliverance,  and 
that  he  might  be  permitted  to  visit  the  churches 
founded  early  in  his  ministry,  and  among  these 
the  church  at  Philippi.  Again,  the  prospect  of 
death  was  before  his  mind.  What  then  ?  Do  we 
find  his  soul  divided  between  fear  and  hope,  de- 
spondency and  joy,  dependent  upon  the  external 
impression  of  these  changeful  circumstances,  as  is 
wont  to  be  the  case  with  others  in  like  situations  ? 
No ;  one  deep  undertone  of  cheerful  tranquillity, 
of  surrender  to  the  will  of  the  Lord,  pervades  the 
whole  epistle.  We  see  the  man,  whose  confidence 
rests  on  an  immovable  foundation  unaffected  by 


30  PHILIPPIANS. 

change  of  circumstances,  a  foundation  wMcIi  no 
waves  or  storms  can  shake.  He  is  certain  that,  in 
one  way  or  another,  the  Lord  will  conduct  him 
through  these  conflicts  triumphantly  to  a  glorious 
end.*  AVith  joyful  confidence,  he  approaches  the 
termination  of  a  life  singly  consecrated  to  one 
holy  service.  He  is  conscious  of  not  having  la- 
bored in  vain,  as  a  faithful  preacher  of  the  truth^ 
which  he  sees  bringing  forth  fruit  in  the  churches. 
These,  as  for  instance  the  church  at  Philippi,  are 
the  living  memorial  of  his  devoted  labors  for  tlie 
Lord,  as  he  himself  expresses  it  in  this  epistle ;  the 
witness  that  he  has  preached  the  word  of  the  Loi-d 
in  purity ;  his  glory  before  the  Lord  when,  at  the 
day  of  judgment,  that  shall  be  by  Him  brought 
to  light  w^hich  was  here  concealed ;  when  much, 
which  here  seemed  to  be  somewhat,  shall  be  ex- 
posed in  its  nothingness ;  and  when  much,  that 
was  misjudged  and  condemned  by  the  world,  shall 
be  acknowledged  by  the  Lord  as  his  own.  How 
nobly  does  this  spirit  of  Paul  express  itself  in  the 
words  of  this  epistle,  where  he  exclaims  :t  "And 
even  if  I  be  offered:!:  upon  the  sacrifice  and  priestly 
service  of  your  faith,  I  joy  and  rejoice  with  you 

•  Chap.  i.  19,  20.  f  Chap.  ii.  17,  18.  t  Literally,  pourel  out. 


THILIPPIANS.  •  31 

all ;  in  like  manner  should  ye  also  joy  and  re- 
joice with  me."  We  must  endeavor  to  make  clear 
the  full  import  of  these  weighty  words. — The 
Lord  Christ  is  the  one  Mediator,  between  God 
and  the  sinful  human  race  redeemed  by  him. 
Through  bim  all,  who  believe  on  him  and  enter 
into  fellowship  with  him,  are  taken  out  of  the  un- 
godly world  and  consecrated  as  a  holy  community 
to  God.  Thus  do  they  all  become  one  priestly 
generation.  There  is  no  longer  the  distinction  of 
Priests  and  Laity.  All  are  become,  through  him 
and  in  fellowship  with  him,  what  he  himself  is, — 
Priests  before  the  God  of  Jesus  Christ  who  is  also 
their  God,  before  his  Father  who  is  also  their 
Father.  Their  whole  life  is  a  priestly  calling ;  as 
Paul  represents  it,  Rom.  xii.  1,  "  a  reasonable  ser- 
vice," that  is,  a  spiritual  worship  proceeding  from 
the  rational  nature,  the  soul.  Herein  the  whole 
spiritual  life  manifests  itself  as  a  God-devoted,  to 
God  presented  self-sacrifice;  every  inward  and 
outward  act  as  done  in  fellowship  with  Christ,  as 
performed  in  his  name,  pervaded  by  his  Spirit,  en- 
stamped  with  his  image,  a  thank-ofifering  and  a 
praise-offering  of  the  redeemed,  well  pleasing  in 
the  sight  of  God.     This  being  true  of  all  the  acts 


82  PIIILIPPIANS. 

of  each  Christian  in  his  proper  vocation,  Paul  re- 
gards as  his  own  priestly  calling  the  Apostolic 
work ;  as  his  own  acceptable  offering  to  God,  the 
faith  planted  by  him  among  the  Gentiles  and  the 
Christian  life  of  the  converted  heathen  world.  It 
is  in  this  sense  he  speaks,  in  these  words  to  his 
Philippian  brethren,  of  "  the  sacrifice  and  priestly 
service  of  their  faith"  as  his  offering  to  God.  It 
was  customary,  moreover,  to  pour  out  wine  upon 
the  altar,  a  so-called  libation,  as  a  seal  of  the  offer- 
ing. Paul,  foreseeing  that  his  own  blood  might  be 
poured  out  in  his  priestly  office  of  proclaiming  the 
Gospel  among  the  heathen,  that  he  might  be  called 
to  testify  to  what  he  preached  in  the  very  face  of 
death,  and  to  put  the  seal  of  martyrdom  upon  his 
life's  work,  here  speaks  of  the  outpouring  of  his 
own  blood  as  a  libation, — an  offering  of  himself 
upon  the  sacrifice.  Thus,  wdth  joyful  confidence, 
the  Apostle  advances  towards  so  glorious  a  con- 
summation of  his  work.  Far  from  needing  solace 
from  others,  he  could  call  on  the  Philippians  to 
rejoice  wdth  him.  Uncertain  whether  he  was  to 
finish  his  captivity  by  the  martyr's  death,  or 
whether  his  life  would  be  preserved  to  labor  still 
for  the  advancement  of  the  kingdom  of  God  upon 


PHILIPPIANS.  33 

tlie  earth,  lie  was  prepared  for  "both,  submissive 
in  either  case  to  tlie  divine  will.  The  will  of  the 
Lord  was  his  will.  The  result  would  show,  in 
what  way  it  was  the  purpose  of  the  Lord  to  make 
his  life  most  subservient  to  His  own  glory.  He 
was  in  a  strait  betwixt  two, — longing  to  depart, 
out  of  the  conflicts  of  the  earthly  life,  into  the 
peace  of  the  spirit's  heavenly  home ;  from  where 
the  Lord  is  seen  only  by  the  eye  of  faith,  to  where 
in  blissful  nearness  he  becomes  an  object  of  sight. 
Although  Paul  was  certain  even  in  this  his  earthly 
life  of  union  with  the  Lord,  he  was  far  from  feel- 
ing himself  satisfied  with  what  he  already  en- 
joyed. Not  merely  from  external  conflicts  had  he 
learned,  that  this  is  not  the  land  of  peace  prom- 
ised to  tlie  Christian,  and  sought  for  by  his  long- 
ing spirit.  To  those  internal  conflicts,  yet  more 
severe,  which  the  life  of  faith,  must  ever  sustain, 
he  was  no  stranger.  Herein  also  had  his  Saviour 
led  the  way ;  he  who  cried  "  My  soul  is  exceeding 
sorrowful  even  unto  death !"  and,  "  My  God,  my 
God,  why  hast  thou  forsaken  me !"  One  of  his 
sore  trials  he  calls  "  a  thorn  in  the  flesh ;"  com- 
paring it  to  the  anguish  inflicted  by  a  thorn  fixed 
and  rankling  in  the  flesh.     It  was  the  painful  ex- 


34  PHILIPPIANS. 

perience  of  his  own  human  weakness,  in  contrast 
with  the  revelation  of  the  divine  glory,  which  at 
times  was  imparted  to  him.  Thus  was  he  taught 
to  distinguish  what  is  divine  and  what  is  human, 
what  belongs  to  this  hfe  and  what  to  the  life  be- 
yond. Thus  too  was  he  to  learn,  that  the  land  of 
heavenly  peace,  after  which  tlie  renewed  spirit 
sighs,  is  not  to  be  found  on  earth.  Although 
Paul,  as  his  life  and  his  epistles  testify,  had  made 
great  advances  in  personal  sanctification,  yet  he 
was  far  from  wishing  to  separate  himself  from  the 
number  of  those,  who  as  sinners  seek  in  Christ  for 
justification;  far  from  holding  himself  to  be  a  sin- 
less saint.  He  knew  well  that  he  had  still  to  main- 
tain the  conflict  with  sin,  and  that  he  must  perse- 
vere in  that  conflict  faithfully  to  the  end,  if  lie 
would  stand  before  the  Lord.  We  need  only  to 
hear  his  own  professions,  as  when  warning  the  Corin- 
thians against  a  false  security  he  writes  (1  Cor.  ix. 
27):  "But  I  keep  under  my  body,  and  bring  it 
into  subjection ;  lest,  having  preached  to  others,  I 
myself  should  be  a  cast-away."  By  'these  words 
he  describes  his  unceasing  conflict  with  himself, 
lest  after  having  brought  others  to  salvation  by 
the  preaching  of  the  word,  which  through  the  in- 


PHILIPPIANS. 


85 


dwelling  divine    power  works    independently  of 
the  preacher,  and  brings  forth  fruit  to  eternal  life, 
he  should  himself  be  overcome  by  temptation  and 
fall  short  of  that  goal  to  which  he  has  conducted 
others.    The  figure,  of  which  Paul  here  makes  use, 
is  taken  from  the  boxing  combats  of  the  ancients. 
The  body  is  represented  as  the   antagonist  with 
whom  the  boxer  contends ;  implying  a  still  con- 
tinued resistance  of  the  body,  once  the  servant  of 
sin,  against  the  divine  life  in  the  spirit.     Paul  de- 
scribes himself  as  one,  who  by  unremitting  effort 
makes  his  body,  the  organ  of  sanctification  en- 
trusted to  him,  serviceable  to  himself  as  the  ser- 
vant of  Christ.     This  conflict  with  the  body  of 
sin,  inasmuch  as  the  whole  outward  life  of  man 
manifests  itself  in  the  body,  designates  in  general 
the  entire  conflict  still  to  be  waged  by  the  spirit- 
ual  against   the  fleshly  man,  by  the   new   man 
ao-ainst  the  old ; — and  this  in  the  case  even  of  a 
Paul.     Thus  Paul,  instructed  by  his  rigorous  self- 
examination,  is  far  from  supposing  when  he  con- 
templates his  own  life,  that  he  has  already  reached 
the  limit  of  heavenly  perfection,  or  that  he  could 
build  his  confidence  thereon  as  if  it  were  a  life  of 
perfected  sanctification.    "  Not  as  if  I  had  already 


36  PHILIPPIANS. 

attained,  or  were  already  perfect,"  is  liis  own 
beautiful  expression  of  his  conviction,  in  a  passage 
of  this  epistle  which  we  shall  presently  consider. 
Paul,  then,  was  conscious  that  the  blessings  pro- 
nounced by  the  Lord :  "  Blessed  are  they  who 
hunger  and  thii^st  after  righteousness,  for  they 
shall  be  filled !"  "  Blessed  are  the  pure  in  heart 
for  they  shall  see  God !"  were  not  as  yet  com- 
pletely fulfilled  in  him,  but  were  still,  in  a  certain 
sense,  a  promise  looking  into  the  future.  More- 
over, although  Paul  had  been  elevated,  in  his  per- 
ception of  divine  things,  above  others  of  his  own 
time  and  of  all  time;  although  he  could  claim 
that  single  higher  revelations,  over  and  above  that 
which  was  to  be  the  subject  of  general  proclama- 
tion, had  been  vouchsafed  to  him ;  yet  he  well 
knew  that  all  this  was  but  partial  and  fragmen- 
tary, far  from  that  completeness  of  knowledge  be- 
fore whose  light  all  which  is  called  in  this  life 
higher  perception,  prophecy,  the  gift  of  tongues, 
shall  vanish  away.  He  reckons  himself  among 
those,  whose  knowledge  of  divine  things  is  like 
objects  obscurely  reflected  in  a  mirror,  where  much 
still  remains  uncertain ;  a  knowledge  which,  in  re- 
lation to  that  of  the   eternal   world,  is  as   the 


PHILIPPIANS.  37 

knowledge  of  tlie  child,  to  that  of  the  mat  are 
man.  He  was  fully  conscious,  that  when  he  should 
be  raised  to  the  full  vision  of  the  life  above,  that 
which  he  knew  of  divine  things  in  this  life  must 
be  cast  aside  by  him,  as  the  mature  man  casts 
aside  the  conceptions  of  childhood.  The  twilight 
of  the  earthly  life  of  faith  did  not  satisfy  the  aspi- 
rations of  his  soul,  which  thirsted  after  knowl- 
edge ;  and  he  longed  to  pass  into  that  ]3ure  day 
of  heavenly  clearness,  where  our  knowledge  of 
God  and  divine  things  will  be  inward,  immediate, 
a  direct  perception  of  that  which  is  present,  a 
knowing  as  w^e  are  known.  We  see  then  that,  in 
all  these  respects,  Paul  was  penetrated  with  the 
full  consciousness  that  the  hope  which  has  refer- 
ence to  the  future,  not  less  than  the  present  exer- 
cise of  faith,  constitutes  the  life  of  the  Christian, 
Apart  from  this  undoubting  prospect  into  the  fu- 
ture, the  whole  Christian  life  seems  to  him  an 
effort  without  aim,  a  chase  after  a  phantom,  a  de- 
ceptive show;  as  he  expresses  it  1  Cor.  xv.  19, 
"  If  in  this  life  only  we  have  hope  in  Christ,  we 
are  of  all  men  most  miserable."  For  the  life  of 
othei's  is  directed  towards  some  aim,  higher  or 
lower,  of  the  sensual  or  spiritual  life,  which  may 


38  PHILIPPIANS. 

actually  be  attained  on  earth.  But  the  life  of 
the  Christian,  with  all  its  conflicts,  labors,  and 
privations,  has  reference  to  an  object  which  has 
no  reality,  if  it  be  not  found  in  the  eternal  life  of 
the  future.  It  is  from  this  point  of  view  that 
Paul  reproaches  the  proudly  secure  Corinthians 
with  having  lost  the  consciousness  of  this  distinc- 
tion between  the  present  and  the  hereafter,  be- 
tween the  conflict  of  the  earthly  and  the  triumph 
of  the  eternal  life.  In  their  spirit  and  conduct 
they  seemed  as  if  already  in  possession  of  all 
riches,  enjoying  full  satisfaction,  the  contentment 
of  all  necessities,  with  no  farther  warfare  from 
within  or  from  without.  With  this  he  contrasts  the 
wholly  different  image  of  the  Apostle's  life  (1  Cor. 
4 :  8).  "  Ye  are,"  says  he,  "  already  become  full, 
ye  are  already  become  rich,  ye  reign  without  us." 
They  were  in  spirit  and  conduct,  as  if  the  kingdom 
of  Christ  had  with  them  already  reached  its  con- 
summation ;  and  they,  as  partakers  therein,  had  at- 
tained to  all  riches,  to  the  satisfaction  of  all  their 
desires.  And  would  this  were  so,  says  he ;  would 
they  had  already  attained  to  this  participation  in 
the  perfected  kingdom  of  Christ ;  for  then,  assu- 
redly, the  Apostles  would  not  have  been  excluded 


come, 
re- 


PHILTPPIANS.  dy 

therefrom,  nor  would  their  circumstances  be  such 
as  they  now  are.  Thus  he  holds  up  before  them 
his  own  life  of  conflict,  in  contrast  with  their  false 
security,  their  unauthorized  and  groundless  exul- 
tation.   (1  Cor.  iv.  9-13.) 

Thus  there  was  reason  sufficient  even  for  Paul, 
though  rejoicing  in  conflicts  for  Christ's  sake,  and 
finding  therein  his  glory,  still  to  long  after  that 
perfect  union  with  the  Lord  in  the  life  to 
In  earlier  years,  indeed,  we  find  him  constant] y 
ferring  to  the  contrast  between  the  earthly  life  of 
faith,  and  the  consummation  not  to  be  enjoyed  till 
the  resurrection.  But  at  a  later  period,  especially 
from  the  date  of  his  second  epistle  to  the  Corin- 
thians, we  remark  in  him  an  ever  increasing  con- 
sciousness, that,  as  a  necessary  result  of  the  insepa- 
rable union  of  believers  with  their  Lord,  both  in 
his  sufferings  and  his  exaltation,  they  also  shall  on 
their  departure  from  the  earthly  existence  enter  at 
once  on  a  higher  life  of  vision,  into  a  higher,  more 
undisturbed  fellowship  with  Him.  Thus  in  the 
fifth  chapter  of  tlie  second  epistle  to  the  Corin- 
thians, he  in  this  view  represents  the  abiding  in 
the  flesh  as  an  al)sence  from  the  Lord,  that  is,  from 
the  immediate  vision  of  Christ;  while  the  state 


40  PHILIPPIANS. 

wMcli  follows,  entered  througli  death,  tlirougli  the 
laying  off  of  the  earthly  life,  is  a  being  at  home 
with  the  Lord — (2  Cor.  v.  8).  He  expresses  the 
same  conviction  in  this  epistle  to  the  Philippians. 
Christ  is  his  life.*  He  distinguishes  life  in  this  sense 
from  his  life  in  the  flesh.f  Christ  is  his  true  life  ; 
lie  has  no  life  except  in  him,  none  apart  from  him. 
In  him  that  which  alone  he  calls  life,  has  its  being  ; 
it  has  its  root  in  union  with  Him.  And  as  Christ, 
having  laid  aside  human  infirmity,  having  risen 
and  ascended  to  Heaven,  now  reigns  triumphant 
in  the  Divine  Life,  living  in  the  power  of  God  a 
life  exalted  above  the  reach  of  death  ;  so  also  is 
this  true  of  the  life  of  the  ])eliever,  as  being  one 
with  His  own,  yea  one  with  Himself  And  hence 
Paul  concludes,  that  although  even  now,  wjiile 
abiding  in  the  flesh,  he  has  Chi-ist  for  his  true  life  ; 
yet  death  is  for  him  gain,  inasmuch  as  through  the 
laying  off  of  the  earthl}-  existence,  this  true  life, 
which  has  its  being  in  Christ,  shall  be  freed  from 
the  checks,  hindrances,  and  disturbances  by  which 
it  is  still  clogged,  and  shall  attain  to  its  complete 
development.  He  knows,  that  with  his  departure 
from  the  earthly  life,  will  commence  his  "Being 

*  Chap.  i.  21.  t  Ver.  22. 


PHILIPPIANS.  41 

witii  Christ"*  iu  that  more  perfect  sense,  his  pres- 
ence with  Him  as  an  object  of  immediate  vision. 
Hence  this  is  the  goal  of  his  desires. 

But  there  are  two  mistakes,  against  which  the 
example  of  the  Aj^ostle  warns  us,  viz. :  the  declen- 
sion, on  the  one  hand,  of  that  longing  after  the 
blessedness  to  come,  which,  as  we  have  seen,  is  in- 
separable from  the  very  nature  and  essence  of  the 
Christian  life ;  and  on  the  other,  such  a  one-sided 
morbid  predominance  of  this  desire,  as  to  weaken 
the  exercise  of  patient  submission  to  the  will  of  the 
Lord.  As  to  the  first,  we  remark,  that  it  is  not 
alone  in  the  enjoyment  of  earthly  gratifications, 
which  we  should  ever  remember  are  in  their  na- 
ture transitory  and  but  a  shadow  and  pledge  of 
those  higher,  eternal,  heavenly  joys,  that  the  Chris- 
tian may  sufter  the  loss  of  this  heavenward  desii'e. 
Even  his  activity,  in  a  calling  entrusted  to  him  for 
the  promotion  of  the  kingdom  of  God,  may  like- 
wise so  absorb  him  as  to  obscui'e  the  consciousness 
that  he  has  here  no  abiding  home,  that  his  native 
country  is  in  Heaven.  He  labors  as  if  this  work 
upon  earth,  which  is  but  the  beginning  of  a  higher 
activity  destined  for  eternity,  were  to  be  consum- 

*  Chap.  i.  23. 


42  PHILIPPIANS. 

mated  liere,  as  if  it  \\cve  ali-eady  the  work  of  eter- 
nity. Hence  the  tlioiigbt  that  here  all  remains 
fragmentary,  that  nothing  reaches  completion, 
nothing  attains  to  its  end,  withdraws  itself  from 
him ;  and  death  surprises  him  in  the  midst  of  his 
labors,  consecrated  though  they  be  to  God,  as  an 
unexpected  unwelcome  guest,  who  finds  him  unpre- 
pared. He  is  called  away  before  he  has  finished 
his  account ;  and  instead  of  following  joyfully  the 
summons  to  a  release  from  the  sufierings  of  time, 
his  heart  clings  fast  to  that  earthly  scene  of  labor 
which  he  too  reluctantly  quits,  to  those  bappy  re- 
sults of  his  labors  on  which  he  has  set  too  high  a 
value.  Here  may  be  applied  the  admonition  of 
the  Lord :  "  llejoice  not  that  the  spirits  are  subject 
unto  you,  but  rathei*  rejoice  that  your  names  are 
written  in  Heaven."  This  heavenward  longing  is 
ever  the  salt  of  the  Christian  life,  amidst  all  sor- 
rows, all  joys;  in  every  season  of  repose,  in  every 
labor.  But  on  the  other  hand,  this  very  desire,  in 
itself  perfectly  right,  but  needing  to  be  restrained 
l)y  submission  to  the  holy  Avill  of  God,  and  by 
fidelity  to  the  calling  appointed  us  in  this  earthly 
life,  becomes  itself  an  error  when  it  oversteps  these 
boundaries.     Thus  arises  a  one-sided  direction  of 


PHILIPPIANS.  48 

feeling,  an  impatient  haste  for  the  call,  which 
should  be  waited  for  with  a  steadfast  unfaltering 
patience.  In  this  undue,  all-engrossing  longing  af- 
ter the  eternal,  the  importance  of  the  earthly  life 
and  of  its  duties,  connected  as  they  are  with  the 
eternal,  is  forgotten.  Earthly  joy,  and  earthly  la- 
bor, lose  the  proper  value  assigned  them  in  the 
divine  arrangement.  That  which  the  goodness  of 
God  has  given  us  for  the  moment,  as  an  earnest 
and  a  preparation  for  the  higher  joys  of  the  future, 
is  im23atiently  and  unthankfully  contemned.  The 
consciousness  is  wanting,  which  should  be  ever  pre- 
sent with  the  Christian,  that  for  the  redeemed  uni- 
ted in  fellowship  with  Christ,  even  here  below,  the 
earthly  of  whatever  name,  whether  it  consist  in  re- 
ceiving or  in  doing,  whether  it  be  enjoyment  or 
labor,  is  transformed  into  the  heavenly.  The  tem- 
per of  mind,  which  Paul's  words  exhibit,  holds  the 
just  medium  between  these  two  extremes.  The 
longing  after  the  life  of  eternity,  after  the  imme- 
diate society  of  the  Lord,  continues  to  be  the 
ground-tone  of  his  soul,  which  no  other  can  over- 
power. Through  all  the  pressure  of  his  labors  in 
the  service  of  God,  this  longing  after  the  heavenly 
rest  is  not  smothered,  is  not   crowded   from  his 


44  PHILIPPIANS. 

heart.  But  he  is  far  from  an  o^er-hasty  impatience, 
which  cannot  await  the  end  of  the  earthly  conflict ; 
fixr  also  from  that  more  refined  selfishness,  which 
cannot  endure  to  strive  and  labor  longer  for  the 
salvation  of  others,  and  be  still  deprived  of  the 
quiet  enjoyment  of  heavenly  blessedness.  Though 
to  depart  from  the  earthly  life,  and  to  be  present 
with  the  Lord  in  a  pei-fect  personal  union,  be  the 
goal  of  his  desires ;  he  is  yet  ready  to  deny  this 
desire,  the  offspring  of  what  is  noblest  in  man,  in 
order  to  labor  still  uyion  the  earth  and  to  strive 
for  the  salvation  of  his  brethren.  If  it  may  serve 
for  the  advancement  of  the  work  entrusted  to  him 
by  the  Lord,  he  is  willing  yet  longer  to  forego  tlie 
object  of  his  wishes,  and  to  be  still  a  wanderer 
upon  the  earth.  Love  to  his  brethren,  who  may 
need  him  for  their  salvation,  enables  him  to  present 
this  offering  willingly ;  and  thus  drawn  hither  and 
thither  by  these  two  directions  of  his  desires,  he  re- 
mains submissive  in  either  event  to  the  wdll  of  the 
Lord.  But  one  desire  remains  fixed  and  unwaver- 
ing, to  which  all  others  must  yield,  viz. : — That 
Christ  may  be  glorified  through  him,  be  it  by  life 
or  by  death.  Let  us  hear  his  own  noble  words : — 
"  As  I  earnestly  expect  and  hope,  that  in  nothing 


PHILIPPIANS.  45 

I  sliall  be  put  to  shame ;  but  that  with  all  bold- 
ness, as  at  all  other  times  so  also  now,  Christ  may 
be  glorified  in  my  body,  whethei  it  be  by  life  or 
by  death.  For  Christ  is  my  life,  and  death  is  gain. 
I^at  if  my  life  in  the  flesh  is  fruitful  for  my  work, 
— then  I  know  not  which  to  choose.  For  I  am  in 
a  striiit  betwixt  the  two ;  desiring  to  depart  and 
to  be  with  Christ,  for  this  is  far  better."'"'  Still  he 
gives  that  the  preference,  which  may  most  sub- 
serve the  welfare  of  the  churches  which  he  has 
founded ;  and  hence  he  adds :  "  But  to  abide  in  the 
flesh  is  more  needful  for  your  sake."  His  love  to 
the  churches  inspires  him,  at  this  moment,  with  the 
confident  expectation  (which  indeed  as  he  well  knew 
might  prove  illusive,  but  which  as  we  have  reason 
to  believe,  was  fulfilled  by  his  release  from  his  first 
imprisonment  at  Kome)  that  God  would  again  re- 
store him  to  their  society,  for  the  strengthening  of 
their  faith  and  the  furtherance  of  their  joy.  "And 
having  this  confidence,  I  know  that  I  shall  remain, 
and  shall  continue  with  you  all,  for  yom'  further- 
ance and  joy  in  the  ftiith  ;  that  your  glorying  on 
my  account  may  abound  in  Christ  Jesus  (i.  e.  the 
exulting   joy  whicli   Christ  should   bestow  upon 

*   Chap.  i.  20-23. 


46  PHILIPPIANS. 

them  by  the  restoration  of  Paul  to  their  society) — 
through  my  coming  again  to  you." 

We  liere  observe  in  Paul  the  example  of  sub- 
mission to  the  divine  will,  both  in  doing  and  in 
suffering,  in  self-sacrifice  and  self-j)reservation. 
Surrendering  his  own  v/ill,  he  is  ready  for  what- 
ever God  may  appoint,  be  it  life  or  death,  as  may 
best  promote  the  work  committed  to  him.  Filled 
with  longing  after  the  home  of  heaven,  he  yet 
seeks  not  death.  For  the  good  of  the  churches  he 
willingly  remains  on  earth.  Only  in  the  faithful 
performance  of  the  duties  of  his  calling  is  death  to 
him  a  divine  gift,  to  be  joyfully  received  from  the 
hand  of  his  Heavenly  Father.  Thus,  in  life  and 
in  death,  it  is  alike  the  same  operation  of  self-de- 
nying love.  This  example  of  Paul  has  primary 
and  immediate  reference  to  the  martyr's  death,  the 
genuine  Christian  martyrdom  purified  from  all  ad- 
mixture of  fanaticism.  But  is  it  not  also  applica- 
ble to  death  under  all  circumstances,  and  in  the 
ordinary  course  of  nature  ?  In  that  case  too,  there 
may  be  either  that  spirit  of  selfish  impatience, 
which,  though  it  ventures  not  presumptuously  to 
sever  the  thread  of  the  earthly  life,  is  not  willing 
to  endure  it  longer ;  or  that  selfish  love  to  the 


PHILIPPIANS.  47 

earthly  life,  which  clings  to  this  with  its  whole 
strength,  which  cannot  let  it  go  when  the  call  of 
God  requii-es.  Thus,  in  both  these  respects,  does 
Paul's  example  of  a  love  consecrated  to  God  in 
self-sacrifice  and  self-preservation,  find  an  applica- 
tion here.  Thus  should  each  Christian  become,  in 
respect  to  living  and  dying,  one  with  him  in  spirit, 
though  his  calling  may  not  lead  to  the  martyr's 
death. 

Furthermoi-e,  we  here  observe  in  Paul  that 
higher  degree  of  self-renunciation,  which  manifests 
itself  not  in  the  relinquishment  of  temporal  earth- 
ly interests,  which  could  have  no  attraction  for  a 
Paul,  but  in  the  relinquishment  of  the  higher  in- 
terests of  the  immortal  spirit.  It  is  a  heavenly 
aspiration,  which  enkindles  the  lofty  soul  of  the 
Apostle.  His  desires  reach  beyond  the  narrow- 
limits  and  perplexities  of  the  earthly  existence  af- 
ter the  immediate  vision  of  Christ,  in  him  to  find 
the  full  satisfaction  of  all  the  wants  of  the  higher 
life.  This  to  his  spirit  would  be  the  highest  good. 
Yet  even  this  he  foregoes.  He  is  ready  to  relin- 
quish what  is  dearest  to  himself,  to  forego  the  sat- 
isfaction of  that  heaven-born  desire,  to  abide  still 
longer  in  the  strange  country,  to  labor  still  upon 


48  PHILirPIANS. 

earth,  striving  and  suffering  for  the  welfare  of 
others.  What  is  best  for  the  churches,  for  the 
furtherance  of  God's  kingdom  upon  the  earth,  is 
more  to  him  than  what  is  best  for  himself.  ISonv 
this  example  is  not  to  be  restricted  to  its  merely 
literal  application  to  a  precisely  similar  case,  viz. : 
when  one  who  is  penetrated  with  longing  for  the 
heavenly  father-land,  is  yet  obliged  to  bear  the 
load  of  the  earthly  life  for  the  welfare  of  others. 
It  may  in  ifs  spirit  be  applied  to  every  case,  where 
the  Christian  is  called  on  to  relinquish  a  course  of 
life  most  favorable  to  his  own  spiritual  interests,  a 
life  of  tranquil  and  collected  thought  consecrated 
to  devotion ;  and  to  plunge  into  a  whirl  of  busi- 
ness, toil,  and  conflict  alien  to  the  higher  inclina- 
tions of  his  soul,  but  where  he  is  appointed  to  la- 
bor because  the  salvation  of  others  requires  it. 
In  this  respect  also,  Paul  furnishes  for  our  imita- 
tion an  example  of  self-denying  love,  which  shuns 
no  sacrifice  for  the  good  of  others.  How  often 
have  Christians,  who  should  be  the  salt  of  the 
earth,  by  withdrawing  themselves  from  its  corrup- 
tion acted  in  contrariety  to  this  example  ! 

Let  us  present  still  another  view  in  which  all 
Christians  have  an  interest.     While  Paul  stands 


PHILIPPIANS.  49 

tliiis  between  .ife  and  deatli,  whereon  is  his  confi- 
dence grounded  ?  He,  if  any  one,  was  a  faithful 
laborer  in  the  work  of  the  Lord.  He  was  con- 
scious of  having  labored  more  than  all  others  in 
the  proclamation  of  the  gospel.  But  he  knew  at 
the  same  time  that  this  was  not  his  own  work,  but 
the  grace  of  God  accomplishing  all  through  him; 
as  he  himself  says:  "I  have  labored  more  abun- 
dantly than  they  all ;  yet  not  I,  but  the  grace  of 
God  which  was  with  me."  When  higher  conside- 
rations demanded  his  self-justification,  against  sus- 
picions which  might  shake  the  confidence  of  the 
churches  in  him,  he  could  indeed  recount  what  he 
had  done  and  suffered  above  others  for  the  cause 
of  the  Lord  (2  Cor.  xi.  22,  23).  He  could  appeal 
to  the  memorials  of  what  he  had  endured  in  the 
cause  of  Christ,  in  whose  fellowship  he  suffered, 
and  whom  he  followed  in  his  sufferings ;  to  the 
marks  enstamped  in  his  body  by  the  Lord  himself 
(such  as  soldiers  and  servants  were  accustomed  to 
bear)  as  proofs  that  he  was  Christ's  servant.  (Gal. 
vi.  7).  Still,  when  looking  towards  the  close  of 
his  earthly  course,  he  reviewed  his  life  so  abundant 
in  laboi-s  and  sufferings  for  the  Lord,  as  it  now 
spread  out  before  him,  he  felt  that  he  could  not 
3 


50  PHILIPPIANS. 

rest  his  confidence  on  what  he  had  himself  done. 
All  seemed  marked  with  imperfection.  He  was 
constrained  to  forget  what  he  had  already  accom- 
plished, and  to  fix  his  eye  upon  what  still  remained 
for  him  to  do.  It  was  with  him  a  law,  to  forget 
what  was  already  done,  what  lay  behind,  and  to 
press  continually  forward  towards  the  prize  of  the 
heavenly  calling.  It  may,  at  first  view,  seem 
strange,  that  Paul  expresses  himself  so  doubtfully 
on  the  great  point,  whether  he  shall  attain  to  the 
victor's  crowm  of  life,  shall  share  in  the  l)lessedness 
of  the  resurrection.  It  seems  to  be  in  conflict  with 
that  divine  confidence  which  breathes  thi-ough  the 
whole  epistle,  and  which  he  expresses  elsewhere  in 
regard  to  the  object  of  his  hoj)e  ;  as  e.  g.  in  2  Thn. 
iv.  8 :  "I  have  fought  a  good  fight,  I  have  finished 
the  course,  I  have  kept  the  faith."  But  this  con- 
flict belongs  to  the  nature  of  the  Christian  life,  and 
is  ever  recurring  in  the  experience  of  the  believer. 
Does  the  Christian  look  away  from  himself  to  his 
Redeemer,  to  the  delivering  grace  assured  to  him, 
the  unchangeable  word  of  promise ;  the  goal  to- 
wards which  all  his  efforts  tend,  seems  then  an  ol  »- 
ject  of  perfect  certainty.  Does  he,  on  the  other 
hand,  test  his  own  life  by  the  standard  of  perfect 


PHILIPPIANS.  51 

holiness  ;  His  confidence  then  finds  no  firm  ground. 
Defects  and  blemishes  present  themselves  every- 
where to  his  view;  and  this  all  the  more  the 
farther  he  has  advanced  in  holiness,  the  more  his 
sight  has  been  sharpened  by  the  power  of  the  Holy 
Spirit,  to  recognize  the  model  of  divine  holiness  in 
its  application  to  himself,  to  test  by  comparison 
with  this  pattern  his  inner  and  outer  life  in  its 
nakedness  and  poverty,  to  penetrate  into  the  hid- 
den windings  of  his  own  heart.  Hence  Paul  ex- 
presses himself  so  doubtfully  in  reference  to  what 
he  is  in  himself,  and  has  himself  accomplished. 
What  he  has  performed  seems  to  him  nothing,  and 
he  only  looks  forward  to  that  which  remains  to  be 
done.  He  is  penetrated  with  the  consciousness, 
that  he  is  yet  far  from  having  attained  perfection. 
But  the  ground  of  his  confidence  is  this — that 
Christ  has  taken  him  into  fellowship  with  himself, 
that  Christ  has  apprehended  him ;  and  hence  he 
hopes,  that  as  he  has  been  apprehended  of  Christ, 
he  also  shall  apprehend  the  prize  set  before  him 
by  Christ.  He  knows  that  Christ,  by  whom  he 
has  been  apprehended,  will  not  leave  unfinished 
the  work  he  has  himself  begun  in  him ;  but,  if  he 
truly  surrenders  himself  to  his  hands,  will  conduct 


62  PHILIPPIANS. 

it  through  all  conflicts  to  a  glorious  completion. 
Let  us  hear  his  own  brief,  expressive  words :  "  Not 
as  though  I  had  already  attained,  or  were  already 
perfect;  but  I  follow  after,  if  I  may  apprehend 
that  for  which  I  am  apprehended  of  Christ  Jesus." 
So  important  does  Paul  deem  it  to  set  forth,  in  the 
clearest  light,  this  truth  drawn  from  his  own  self- 
consciousness  and  from  his  Christian  experience^ 
and  to  bring  it  home  to  the  Christian  as  a  warniug 
against  self-satisfaction,  self-righteousness,  and  s})ir- 
itual  pride  !  Hence  he  adds  yet  again :  "  ^ly 
brethren,  I  count  not  myself  to  have  apprehended. 
But  this  one  thing  I  do;  forgetting  the  thing's 
which  are  behind,  and  reaching  forth  unto  the 
things  which  are  before,  I  press  towards  the  mark 
for  the  prize  of  the  high  calling  of  God  in  Christ 
Jesus."  Paul  was  conscious  in  himself  of  the  utter 
insufficiency  of  man's  own  righteousness,  not  mere- 
ly of  that  to  which  the  vital  principle  is  yet  want- 
ing, that  which  precedes  regeneration  and  exists  in- 
dependently of  Christianity ;  but  of  that  also  which 
possesses  already  in  faith  the  true  element  of  sanc- 
tification,  without  having  as  yet  brought  this  to 
complete  development  and  realization.  Hence,  the 
only  immovable  ground  of  his  confidence  is  Christ, 


PHILIPriANS.  53 

by  whom  lie  lias  been  appreliended ;  and  wliom 
he,  surrendering  himself  wholly  to  his  hands,  seeks 
ever  more  to  apprehend  and  to  appropriate  as  his 
own.  Looking  away  from  himself  to  Christ,  his 
assurance  is  complete ;  looking  back  upon  himself, 
lie  must  doubt  and  waver;  and  thus  he  is  driven 
to  look  away  from  himself,  and  to  cling  more  and 
more  firmly  to  Christ,  from  whose  love  nothing  can 
separate  him.  It  is  the  righteousness  of  God  in 
Christ  which  alone  avails  for  him,  and  is  all-suffi- 
cient for  him ;  as  expressed  in  the  words  of  this 
epistle,  "The  righteousness  which  is  of  God  by 
faith."  To  him  Christ  is  all.  All  centres  in  this 
one  point,  that  we  enter  into  his  fellowship  and 
make  it  more  and  more  our  own ;  that  we  follow 
him  by  bearing  the  cross,  thus  following  him  as 
crucified  for  us ;  that  in  fellowship  with  him  we 
die  to  sin,  to  self,  and  to  the  world ;  following  him 
in  the  entire  renunciation  of  selfish  and  earthly  in- 
terests, not  shunning  to  partake  in  the  fellowship 
of  his  sufferings ;  and  following  him  also  as  the 
Risen  One,  expeiiencing  in  ourselves  the  power 
of  his  resurrection — the  resurrection  to  an  imper- 
ishable and  divine  hfe  above  sin,  death,  and  na- 
ture, proceeding  from  him  to  us,  inasmuch  as  he 


54  PHILIPPIANS. 

has  apprehended  us  and  we  apprehend  him  iiki 
Paul  expresses  it,  in  a  passage  whicli  we  must  more 
particularly  consider  hereafter :  "  That  I  may  know 
him  and  the  power  of  his  resurrection  and  the 
fellowship  of  his  sufferings,  l)eing  made  confoi'ma- 
ble  unto  his  deatli ;  if  by  any  means  I  might  attain 
unto  the  resurrection  of  the  dead."  We  have  al- 
ready explained  liow  the  Apostle  could  here  ex- 
press himself  witli  so  mucli  apparent  doubtfulness, 
consistently  with  his  divine  assurance  of  faith. 

It  was  the  greatest  joy  of  the  Apostle,  that  his 
imprisonment  must  necessaiily  serve  for  tlie  fur- 
therance of  the  Gospel;  since  it  was  Ix-coining 
more  and  more  known,  that  no  gudt  of  a  113-  kind 
could  be  imputed  to  him,  that  it  was  but  his  zeal 
for  the  faith  which  he  preached  that  had  drawn 
upon  him  all  his  sufferings.  A  cause,  to  w^hich  a 
man  like  Paul  felt  constrained  to  offer  up  every- 
thing, could  not  fail  to  command  attention.  To 
this  was  added  the  impression  necessarily  made 
upon  those,  who  were  witnesses  of  the  enthusiasm 
with  which  lie  testified  in  behalf  of  the  Gospel,  of 
his  steadfastness,  and  of  his  whole  course  of  life. 
The  knowledge  of  this  had  spread,  as  he  intimates, 
by  means  of  the  soldiers  from  the  imperial  guard 


PHILIPPIANS.  65 

(the  castris  praetorianis')  who  held  watch  by  turn 
ill  his  dwelling,  among  their  comrades  and  from 
these  still  more  widely.  Other  Christians  were 
stimulated  by  Paul's  example  to  preach  the  Gos- 
pel with  similar  zeal,  and  to  bear  their  testimony 
with  like  fearlessness.  Thus  increased  the  procla- 
mation of  the  truth. 

But  Paul  himself  makes  a  great  distinction 
among  these  preachers  of  the  Gospel.  Thus,  when 
expressing  his  joy  at  the  increasing  ])roniulgatiou 
of  the  Gospel,  he  says,  "Some  indeed  preach  Christ 
from  envy  and  strife ;  but  others  also  fiom  good- 
will :  the  one  out  of  love,  knowing  that  I  am  set 
for  the  defence  of  the  Gospel."  The  latter,  he 
means  to  say,  connect  with  their  love  to  the  Gos- 
pel also  love  to  himself  They  know  that  they 
can  cause  him  no  greater  joy,  than  by  laboring 
that  the  Gospel  may  be  promoted  by  his  imprison- 
ment ;  for  they  well  know  that  this  is  the  one  ob- 
ject of  his  life,  and  that  he  himself  regards  it  as 
the  divinely  appointed  end  of  all  that  he  is  to  do 
and  to  suifer  in  life.  "  But  the  others,"  he  pro- 
ceeds to  say,  "  out  of  party  spirit,  not  sincerely, 
supposing  to  add  affliction  to  my  Ijonds."  The 
first  is  clear.     But  who  are  those  who  sought,  by 


56  PHILIPriANS. 

the  preaching  of  the  Gospel,  to  add  affliction  to 
Paul's  imprisonment,  and  whom  he  charges  with 
insincerity  ?  We  miist  here  take  into  view  what 
he  afterwards  says  in  reference  to  this  distinction, 
viz.  that  by  the  one  class  Christ  was  preached  in 
truth,  !jy  the  other  only  in  apj^earance.  Are  Ave 
to  sujjpose  that  these  men,  without  personal  love 
to  the  Gospel,  without  personal  conviction  of  its 
truth,  pi-eached  Christ  for  no  other  reason  than  to 
add  to  the  hardship  of  Paul's  situation,  and  to 
bring  him  into  greater  danger  by  the  wider  exten- 
sion of  the  Gospel  in  Eome  ;  thus  rendering  him, 
as  the  origin  of  it  all,  more  obnoxious  to  the  Ro- 
man civil  power  ?  It  appears  at  once  how  unnat- 
ural, and  intrinsically  improbable,  is  such  a  suppo- 
sition. If  they  could  thus  bring  Paul  into  greater 
peril,  they  would  by  so  doing  plunge  themselves 
into  equal  danger.  Can  it  be  imagined  that  one 
would  play  so  hazardous  a  game,  simply  from  ha- 
tred to  another  ?  He  who  at  that  time  did  not 
himself  believe  in  the  Gospel,  must  be  enlisted 
against  it ;  and  would  certainly  not  have  given 
himself  up  to  the  Inisiness  of  preaching  it,  merely 
as  the  means  to  another  end.  We  must  seek,  then, 
another  explanation  of  Ihis  difficulty.    When  it  is 


PHILlPPlANS.  67 

said  of  an  individual  that  lie  preaclies  the  Gospel 
only  in  appearance,  this  need  not  be  understood 
as  necessarily  meaning  that  he  has  no  concern 
whatever  in  regard  to  the  subject  of  his  preaching ; 
that  he  has  no  personal  interest  in  it,  no  convic- 
tion of  its  truth,  that  he  makes  use  of  it  only  as  a 
means  to  another  end.  It  may  mean  that  he 
preaches  it,  not  in  its  purity  and  completeness,  but 
mingled  with  foreign  elements ;  that  although  an 
interest  in  it  cannot  be  denied  him,  yet  this  is  not 
perfect  and  unalloyed.  In  this  sense  it  might  l)e 
said  of  such  an  one,  that  he  does  not  preach  the 
Gospel  sincerely.  Paul  might  therefore  express 
himself  thus,  in  regard  to  persons  who  testified  of 
the  Gospel  of  Christ  from  real  conviction  ;  yet 
did  not  preach  the  whole,  unmixed,  pure  Gospel 
in  its  completeness,  but  an  adulterated,  mutilated 
Gospel.  And  when,  moreover,  he  says  of  such 
that  they  were  actuated  by  party  zeal  and  hatred 
against  him,  desiring  to  add  new  affliction  to  his 
sufferings;  it  is  not  necessary  to  understand  by 
this,  that  their  witness  for  the  Gospel  was  mere 
pretence,  a  form  of  hypocrisy  to  which  the  cir- 
cumstances of  the  time  afforded  no  occasion  and 
no    ground ;     but   that   their   ruling    motive   in 


58  PHILIPriANS. 

preaching  was  not  pure  love  to  the  Loid,  that  it 
was  their  aim,  consciously  or  unconsciously  to 
themselves,  by  their  manner  of  preaching  to  give 
offence  to  Paul,  and  to  raise  up  for  themselves  a 
party  against  him. 

If  now  we  look  farther  into  the  history  of  the 
development  of  Christianity  in  this  its  earliest  pe- 
riod, and  investigate  more  minutely,  in  the  history 
of  the  Apostolic  church,  the  peculiar  relations  and 
opposing  influences  under  which  Paul's  labors 
were  prosecuted,  we  shall  soon  be  in  a  position  to 
determine  with  greater  exactness  what  we  have 
here  remarked  in  general.  We  know  that  Paul 
had  to  contend  with  opposers,  to  whom  all  that 
has  here  been  said  is  applicable.  There  were 
those  who  did  indeed  acknowledge  and  preach 
Jesus  as  the  Messiah,  but  a  Messiah  in  the  Jewish 
sense ;  who  acknowledged  him,  not  as  that  which 
he  has  revealed  himself  to  be,  the  only  ground  of 
salvation  for  man ;  who  in  connection  with  the  one 
article  of  faith,  that  Jesus  was  tlie  Messiah  prom- 
ised in  the  Old  Testament,  still  adhered  to  the 
Jewish  legal  position  ;  who  understood  nothing 
of  the  new  creation  of  which  Christ  was  the  au- 
thor, and  to  whom  faith  in  Jesus  as  the  Messiah 


PHILIPPIANS.  59 

was  only  a  new  patch  upon  the  old  garment  of 
Judaism.  These  were  the  opposers,  with  whom 
we  so  often  find  Paul  contending  in  his  Epistles. 
Of  such  he  might  justly  say,  that  they  preached 
the  Gospel  not  purely  and  sincerely,  but  only  in 
appearance ;  for  they  were  indeed  far  more  con- 
cerned for  Judaism  than  for  Christianity,  and  their 
converts  became  rather  Jews  than  Christians,  Of 
such  he  might  also  say,  that  they  sought  to  form  a 
party  against  him,  and  to  add  affliction  to  his 
bonds ;  for  these  persons  eveiy where  seem  chiefly 
animated  by  jealousy  of  Paul,  through  whom  the 
Gospel  was  preached  to  the  heathen  world  as  freed 
from  all  dependence  upon  Judaism,  and  standing 
upon  its  own  foundation.  They  opjDose  them- 
selves to  him  on  all  occasions,  contest  his  Apos- 
tolic dignity,  seek  to  encroach  on  his  sphere  of 
labor,  to  draw  over  the  people  from  him  to  them- 
selves, from  that  pure  and  complete  Gospel  to 
their  own  mutilated  one.  And  it  need  not  sur- 
prise us  to  meet  such  even  in  Kome ;  for  Paul's 
Epistle  to  the  church  at  Pome,  written  some  years 
previous  to  his  imprisonment  there,  shows  us  in 
this  church,  consisting  chiefly  of  Gentile  converts, 
a  small  party  of  such  judaizing  Christians  who 


60  PIIILIPPIANS. 

Avere  in  conflict  with  the  rest.  It  was  a  matter  of 
course,  then,  that  when  the  pure  GosjDel  in  the 
sense  of '  Paul  was  preached  by  the  one  party, 
the  other,  provoked  to  rivahy,  should  rise  up  in 
opposition  and  seek  to  give  currency  to  their  own 
corrupted  form  of  the  Gospel. 

We  must  now  endeavor  to  understand  fully 
Paul's  position  towards  these  opposers.  Eightly 
understood,  it  will  furnish  an  important  rule  for 
our  own  application  in  many  cases.  In  the  first 
place,  it  is  clear  that  these  men  were  personal 
enemies  of  Paul ;  and  that  in  their  efforts  to  pro- 
mote the  Gospel,  their  object  was  to  frustrate  the 
labors  of  the  Apostle,  and  to  form  a  party  of 
their  own  in  opposition  to  him.  What  self-renun- 
ciation must  it  then  have  required,  to  enable  Paul 
to  rise  so  entirely  above  this  personal  relation, 
that  forgetting  the  design  against  himself  he  can 
rejoice  with  his  whole  heart  that  the  One  Christ, 
whom  it  is  his  sole  desire  to  glorify,  is  preached, 
even  though  it  be  by  his  personal  enemies!  Thus 
everything  pertaining  to  self  gives  place  to  that 
all-absorbing  love  to  the  Lord,  and  to  those  for 
whom  lie  gave  his  life.  How  rare  are  the  exam- 
ples of  a  hvG  so  heaven-like,  so  purified  from  all 


PHILIPPIANS.  61 

selfishness !  One  mny  even  be  animated  Ijy  real 
zeal  for  the  cause  of  the  Lord,  and  yet  that  zeal 
be  impaii-ed  by  personal  considerations.  If  others, 
who  from  unfriendly  designs  against  him  peison- 
ally  labor  to  fi-ustrate  his  efforts,  are  used  as  in- 
struments for  the  promotion  of  the  same  holy 
cause, — he  cannot  rejoice  over  it.  That  this  is  ac- 
complished not  through  himself,  but  through 
those  who  are  acting  against  him,  weighs  more 
with  him  than  the  common  interest  of  Christ's 
cause ;  and  instead  of  giving  him  joy,  it  becomes 
a  source  of  vexation,  jealousy,  and  envy.  He  is  not 
concerned  alone  that  Christ  should  be  preached, 
but  that  He  should  be  preached  through  him ;  or 
at  least  through  his  followers,  through  those  who 
in  every  respect  harmonize  with  him,  and  ac- 
knowledge him  as  their  teacher  in  Christianity. 
Least  of  all  can  he  endure  it,  when  Christ  is 
preached  by  those  who  take  a  hostile  attitude 
towards  himself;  whose  most  zealous  effort  it  is  to 
lessen  his  reputation,  to  throw  suspicion  on  him  as 
a  teacher,  to  draw  men  away  from  him.  To  this 
course  of  conduct,  which  we  so  frequently  observe 
among  men,  the  Apostle's  self-denying  zeal  forms 
the  most   strikins^  contrast.     He  acted  in  accord- 


62  FIIILTPPIANS. 

ance  with  the  principle  which  he  himself  lays 
down  in  1  Cor.  iii.  21,  showing  in  what  light  the 
preachers  of  the  Gospel  should  be  regarded.  "  Let 
no  man,"  says  he,  "glory  in  men;"  the  highest, 
the  only  concern  is  the  honor  of  Christ,  and  the 
salvation  of  believers. 

Thus  would  the  case  be  easily  understood,  and 
thus  might  Paul's  conduct  serve  as  a  pattern  for 
us,  if  it  were  mqrely  a  matter  of  personal  variance 
and  not  a  strife  respecting  the  nature  of  the  doc- 
trine itself.  But,  as  we  have  already  seen,  this 
was  by  no  means  the  case.  It  is  a  false  form  of 
doctrine,  placing  itself  in  comj)etition  with  the 
preaching  of  Paul  and  in  opposition  to  it,  a  muti- 
lated and  corrupted  Gospel  that  is  here  spoken  of 
Those  opposers,  it  is  true,  acknowledged  Jesus  to 
be  the  Christ,  but  not  in  the  sense  in  which  Paul 
received  him.  It  was  not  in  his  full  character  as 
the  sole  ground  of  salvation,  the  central  point  of 
the  whole  Christian  life,  as  he  was  regarded  by 
Paul.  Hence,  we  might  naturally  suppose,  Paul 
could  not  rejoice  that  Christ  w^as  preached  through 
them,  since  it  was  not  in  his  pure  complete  char- 
acter. And  indeed,  we  see  Paul  dealing  else- 
where quite  differently  with  such  persons.     How 


PHILIPPIANS.  6S 

indignantly  does  lie  combat  tliem  in  tlie  Epistle  to 
the  Galatians !  He  does  not  acknowledge  tliem 
as  preachers  of  the  same  Gospel ;  he  declares  that 
there  is  no  other  Gospel  than  that  preached  by 
him ;  that  they  do  but  pervert  the  Gospel  of 
Christ.  In  opposition  to  those  who  would  connect 
with  the  Gospel  the  righteousness  of  the  law,  he 
says :  "  If  righteousness  come  by  the  Law,  then 
has  Christ  died  in  vain"  (Gal.  ii.  21).  And  in  this 
Epistle  also  he  exjDresses  himself,  as  we  shall  see 
hereafter,  with  equal  severity  in  regard  to  this 
false  tendency.  How  then  is  Paul's  manner  ol 
speaking  in  this  passage,  to  be  reconciled  with 
what  he  says  in  those  other  case*?  It  is  only  ne- 
cessary to  discriminate  carefully  the  different  re- 
lations, presupposed  by  this  diversity  of  judgment 
and  conduct.  Paul  manifests  this  warmth  of  dis- 
pleasure, only  in  cases  where  the  Gospel  had  al- 
ready gained  a  foothold  among  the  Gentiles,  and 
where  that  judaizing  tendency  threatened  to  per- 
vert it,  by  intermingling  so  much  of  Judaism  as 
wholly  to  obscure  its  peculiar  nature.  For  it  could 
only  cause  him  grief,  that  the  blessing  of  which  a 
people  were  already  in  full  possession,  should  be 
marred  and  taken  from  them.     But  it  was  other- 


64  PHILIPPIANS. 

wise  liere,  where  lie  speaks  in  relation  to  the 
heathen  who  as  yet  knew  nothing  of  Christianity. 
Those  preachers  bore  witness  at  least  to  the  fact, 
that  Jesus  had  appeared  to  found  the  kingdom  of 
God  in  man ;  they  testified  of  his  history,  the  facts 
of  liis  life,  his  resurrection,  his  ascension  to  heaven ; 
although  they  did  not  themselves  comprehend, 
nor  were  able  to  unfold  to  others,  how  much  was 
involved  in  all  this.  iSTow  Paul  could  not  but  re- 
joice that  the  common  foundation  of  the  Gospel, 
a  knowledge  of  the  person  and  history  of  Christ, 
should  be  made  known  to  those  who  as  yet  had 
heard  nothing  of  them.  This  was  the  first  thing ; 
the  starting-point  from  which  all  the  rest  must 
proceed.  If  this  personage,  these  fiicts,  became 
once  known  and  could  be  made  objects  of  atten- 
tion, here  was  a  basis  for  still  further  labors.  If 
Christ,  the  crucified,  the  risen,  the  ascended  Christ, 
could  but  once  be  known  and  acknowledged, 
those  who  had  gone  thus  far  might,  from  this? 
starting-point,  be  led  onward  to  find  still  more  in 
him;  might  be  assisted  to  search  deeper  and 
deeper  into  the  inexhaustible  riches  which  are  in 
Christ.  Paul  could  therefore  rejoice  that  Chiist 
was  preached,  even  though  it  was  in  this  defective 


PHILIPPIANS.  65 

manner ;  thoug-h  the  doctrine  of  Christ  were  not 
presented  in  its  purity  and  completeness.    There 
are,  it  must  be  remembered,  different  degrees  io 
the  knowledg-e  of  Christ.     More  or  less  may  bf 
found  in  him.     We  must  therefore  deal  with  no 
one  as  an  enemy,  because  he  has  at  first  but  little ; 
but  must  help  him  on  from  this  point  that  he  may 
g-ain  more,  that  he  may  become  conscious  of  those 
greater  treasures,  which  he  needs  but  rig-hlly  to 
develop  out  of  that  which  he  has  already  received : 
"till,"  as  Paul  expresses  it  in  the  fourdi  chapter 
of  the  Epistle  to  the  Ephesians,  "we  all  come  to 
the  unity  of  the  faith  and  of  the  knowledge  of 
the  Son  of  God,  unto  a  perfect  man,  unto  the 
measure  of  the  stature  of  the  fulness  of  Christ." 
Paul's  conduct,  in  this  case,  is  in  accordance  with 
the  principle  indicated  by  Christ  himself.     When 
the  disciples  met  with  one,  who  attributed   to 
Christ's  name  a  power  whereby  evil  spirits  might 
be  cast  out,  they  refused  to  allow  the  use  of  that 
name  by  one  who  had  not  as  yet  become  his  pro- 
fessed disciple,  and  who  had  not  made  common 
cause  with  them  by  uniting-  himself  to  their  com- 
pany.    But  Christ  rebuked  them,  in  those  mem- 
orable words:  '^He  who  is  not  against  us,  is  on 


G6  PHILIPPIANS. 

our  part."  "  Not  to  be  against  Christ"  contained 
n  itself  the  germ,  from  which  the  positive,  "to  be 
for  Christ,"  might  yet  be  developed.  Thoug'h  he 
did  not  as  yet  know  Christ  as  the  Apostles  knew 
him,  thoug-h  he  was  still  ignorant  of  the  true  sig- 
nificance and  power  of  this  name,  and  connected 
many  errors  with  his  belief  in  its  efficacy;  still  it 
was  a  germ  of  faith  not  to  be  despised,  a  germ  from 
which  more  might  develope  itself  and  be  develop- 
ed. It  was  a  point  of  connection,  from  which  one 
who  had  gained  so  much  could  be  led  still  farther. 
It  needed  only  that  he  should  be  brought  to  per- 
ceive what  was  implied  in  this,  what  must  be  pre- 
supposed in  the  strange  efficacy  of  the  invocation 
of  Christ's  name.  Who  must  He  be,  from  whose 
name  such  power  proceeds !  In  what  relation 
must  He  stand  to  the  kingdom  of  evil,  when  his 
name  exercises  such  sway  over  evil  spirits !  It  is 
clear  that  he  who  had  once  acknowledged  somucii 
was  already  in  a  position,  from  which,  with  pa- 
tience and  love,  he  might  be  conducted  farther 
and  farther  in  knowledge  and  faith.  From  hiiu 
who  as  yet  was  only  not  an  opposer  of  Christ,  wdio 
knew  and  recognized  Christ  in  some  single  point 
of  view,  might  be  formed  by  building  upon  that 


PHILIPPIANS.  67 

which  he  had  ah-eady  attained,  a  positive  disciple 
of  Christ.  But  he  mig-ht  also,  if  not  thus  dealt 
with,  if  too  much  was  required  of  him  with  his 
present  attainments,  be  wholly  repelled.  Not 
only  mig-ht  he  be  hindered  from  farther  progress 
by  such  harsh  treatment,  but  be  unsettled  in  re- 
gard to  what  he  had  already  gained ;  and  thus  the 
g-erm  of  truth,  in  its  yet  imperfect  development, 
might  be  wholly  destroyed.  Against  such  a 
course  we  are  warned  by  those  words  of  Christ ; 
and  with  these  Paul  accords  when  he  rejoices  that 
Christ  was  preached  and  acknowledged,  even 
though  in  an  obscured  and  defective  manner. 

We  have  already,  before  we  saw  clearly  the 
relation  which  these  opposers  held  to  Paul,  and 
regarding  them  merely  in  general  as  his  personal 
enemies,feltourselves  constrained  to  acknowledsre 
iiim  as  a  model  of  self-denying  zeal  for  the  cause 
of  Christ.  We  are  now,  after  a  more  full  and 
careful  development  of  this  relation,  called  upon 
to  contemplate  this  great  model  under  a  new  light. 
It  implies  a  love  purified  from  selfishness  far 
above  what  is  common,  to  be  able  to  recognize  and 
with  joy  to  acknowledge  the  work  of  the  Lord, 
when  performed  through  the  agency  of  a  personal 


68  PHILIPPIANS. 

enemy.  But  the  power  of  this  purified  and  ex- 
alted love  reveals  itself  under  still  another  view, 
when  the  truth  lying  at  the  basis  of  even  an  er- 
roneous representation  of  the  Gospel  is  recognized 
and  welcomed ;  when  the  seed  of  truth  is  not  re- 
jected and  spumed  on  account  of  the  error,  even 
though  this  may  oppose  itself  to  a  purer,  more 
complete,  unmutilated  conception  of  the  Gospel  a>? 
preached  by  ourselves,  but  is  welcomed  as  one 
step  towards  the  farther  advancement  of  the  Gos- 
pel. But  how  seldom  do  we  find  a  like  example ! 
One  who  is  capable,  it  may  be,  of  joyfully  wel- 
coming the  work  of  the  Lord  when  advanced  1  )y 
means  of  a  personal  enemy,  might  yet  not  be  able 
so  far  to  forget  self  as  to  accept  with  cordial  love, 
and  to  use  for  the  common  cause  of  the  Lord,  the 
truth  lying  at  the  bottom  of  the  errors  pi-omulga- 
ted  by  his  opponent,  especially  when  in  direct 
opposition  to  the  pure  truth  w^hich  he  is  himself 
conscious  of  preaching.  How  dift'ereut  would  it 
have  been  in  the  church,  how  many  di\nsions 
might  have  been  avoided,  how  many  who  have  la- 
bored only  to  oppose  each  other  might  have  la- 
bored together  for  the  spread  of  the  Gospel; 
bow  many  who  have  hardened  themselves  in  their 


PHILIPPIAIIS 


69 


errors,  and  have  lost  by  degrees  even  so  much  of 
divine  truth  as  they  had  embraced,  might  from 
that  partial  view  have  been  led  farther  and  farther 
in  the  knowledge  of  the  truth,  and  have  been 
gradually  made  free  from  the  bondage  of  error; 
if  Christians,  instead  of  demanding  everything  at 
once,  with  the  impatient  zeal  of  a  love  not  suffi- 
ciently purified  from  self,  had  been  more  observ- 
ant of  the  various  grades  of  faith  and  knowledge, 
and  had  nurtured  them  with  a  forbearing  charity  ! 
The  principle  here  expressed  and  acted  on  by 
Paul  admits  of  numerous  applications.  But  to 
what  form  of  Christian  labor  is  the  immediate 
reference  here  ?  To  that  which  most  exactly  cor- 
responds to  Paul's  pecuhar  vocation,  that  where 
the  first  concern  is  to  establish  the  church  upon 
the  one  foundation,  which  is  Christ;  we  mean  the 
missionary  work.  Here  should  all,  after  Paul's 
example,  fix  their  aim  upon  this  single  point,  to 
make  Christ  everywhere  known,  to  testify  only 
of  Him.  Here,  then,  should  the  strife  respecting 
differences  in  the  form  of  representation  and  dif- 
ferences' of  creed  find  no  place  ;  and  amidst  all 
diversities  on  these  points,  there  should  be  a  union 
of  labor  for  the  one  object  of  proclaiming  Christ. 


70  PHILIPPIANS. 

Whatever  differences  may  exist  on  otlier  points, 
sliould  all  be  made  an  offering  to  Lis  cause.  To 
each  one  it  sliould  be  matter  of  rejoicing  that 
through  others  also,  and  even  such  as  in  his  view 
have  a  less  perfect  knowledge  of  Christ,  He,  the 
great  centre  of  all,  is  made  more  and  more  widely 
known.  We  may  apply  this  example  of  Paul  in 
still  another  view.  There  are  times  in  which  the 
church,  even  where  it  is  already  firmly  estab- 
lished, is  called  on  to  exercise  anew  a  missionary 
activity ;  times  in  which  the  ideas  and  tendencies 
to  which  Christianity  first  gave  being  and  cur- 
rency, though  still  exerting  their  intiiienee  upon 
society,  yet  deny  their  connection  with  Christi- 
anity, and  even  array  themselves  against  it.  Such 
are  times  of  wide-wasting  apostasy;  when  the 
culture,  which  has  grown  up  under  the  fostering 
care  of  Christianity,  rises  up  in  opposition  to  it, — 
an  opposition  which  may,  however,  have  been  first 
called  forth  by  the  impure  mixture  of  human  in- 
stitutions with  Christianity.  Such  periods  occur 
in  the  history  of  all  religions,  when  reason,  ma- 
tured to  self-dependence,  disunites  itself  from  the 
faith  under  whose  guardianship  it  has  been  nur- 
tured.    Nor  could  Christianity  escape  this  fate. 


PHILIPPIAN3.  71 

It  is  subject  to  the  same  laws  and  conditions  as  all 
things  human ;  and  distinguishes  itself  only  in  the 
manner  in  which,  by  virtue  of  its  divine  nature 
and  character,  it  rises  victorious  from  all  such  con 
flicts.  For  whilst  other  religions  find  in  such  con- 
flicts their  grave,  to  Christianity  they  prove  but 
the  transition  points  to  a  resurrection,  in  increased 
purity  and  glory,  in  the  energy  of  a  renewed 
youth.  In  such  times,  as  well  as  in  periods  of 
missionary  labor,  does  the  principle  "that  Christ 
alone  be  preached"  find  anew  its  application.  The 
sole  concern  then  is,  that  Christ  should  first  of  all 
1  >e  brought  near  to  the  souls  estranged  from  him, 
that  he  may  draw  them  to  himself  and  make  them 
subject  to  him.  Here  too,  all  cannot  be  achieved 
at  once ;  but  gradually,  from  the  common  relation 
to  the  one  Christ,  must  the  way  be  opened  for  a 
union  among  souls  reclaimed  to  him  from  the  most 
diverse  forms  of  error.  Here  must  Paul's  example 
of  magnanimous  denial  of  self  be  our  guide.'  Here 
every  one,  who  is  animated  by  the  same  spirit  with 
the  Apostle,  must  rejoice  if  "  in  every  way  Christ 
is  preached,"  even  when  he  cannot  but  feel  that 
the  manner  leaves  much  to  be  desired. 

Still  another  trait  of  Paul's  Chrir^tian  character 


72  PHILIPPIANS. 

is  preseuted  to  us,  in  liis  manner  of  accepting  the 
gifts  sent  to  him  by  the  Philippian  church.  There 
is  in  the  natural  man  a  false  striving  after  inde- 
pendence and  self-reliance ;  a  pride  of  self-will, 
which  not  seldom  decks  itself  with  noble  names, 
the  influence  of  which  is  to  make  one  ashamed  to 
accept  from  others  gifts  of  which  he  stands  in 
need,  lest  he  should  humble  himself  before  them. 
A  still  worse  development  of  the  same  radical 
fault  of  the  natural  man  is  seen,  when  the  gifts 
indeed  are  accepted  and  enjoyed,  but  there  is  a 
disposition  to  forget  them  again,  to  shun  the  re- 
membrance of  them,  to  acknowledge  no  indebted- 
ness to  others  through  fear  of  seeming  dependent, 
of  humbling:  one's  self  before  them.  But  the 
Apostle  is  penetrated  by  the  consciousness,  that 
all  ai-e  related  to  each  other  as  the  members  of 
one  body,  and  should  abide  in  this  mutual  depen- 
dence upon  one  another  as  members  under  one 
head,  Christ  Jesus.  He  knows  that  the  growth 
of  the  whole  body,  from  the  one  head  which 
guides  animates  and  connects  all  the  members, 
can  only  then  l)e  truly  promoted,  when  all  the 
single  members  are  ready,  as  instruments  of  the 
one  head,  mutually  to  sustain  and  forward  each 


PHILIPPIANS.  73 

other  in  spiritual  and  in  temporal  things,  to  work 
together  in  love  and  unity.  This  is  beautifully- 
expressed  by  Paul  in  the  Epistle  to  the  Ephesians 
(iv.  15,  16):  "That  we  grow  up  into  him  in  all 
things,  which  is  the  head,  even  Christ ;  from  whom 
the  whole  body  fitly  joined  together,  and  com- 
pacted by  that  which  every,  joint  supplieth,  ac- 
cording to  the  effectual  worldng  in  the  measure 
of  every  part,  maketh  increase  of  the  body  unto 
the  edifying  of  itself  in  love,"  Christ  is  here 
presented  as  the  one  to  whom  the  whole  devel- 
opment must  tend ;  the  aim  of  all  is  to  grow  up 
into  true  fellowship  with  him,  to  receive  him 
wholly  into  themselves,  to  become  full  of  him. 
He  is  equally  the  one,  from  whom  the  whole 
growth  up  into  him  can  alone  proceed;  from 
whom  issue  all  the  vital  energies,  the  living  juices ; 
from  whom  alone  all  the  members  can  receive 
life  and  direction.  Christ  so  works  upon  the  whole 
body,  that  by  means  of  the  different  members 
through  which  his  vitalizing  influence  flows,  using 
each  in  its  appropriate  manner,  he  works  through 
the  whole.  And  hence  the  growth,  proceeding 
from  him  and  tending  up  to  him,  can  truly  prosper 
only  when  all  the  members  alike  yield  themselves 


74  PHILTPPIANS. 

to  liim;  and  under  his  guidance,  in  mutual  de- 
pendence and  mutual  influence  upon  each  other, 
abide  together  in  closest  union.  The  Christian 
should  ever  bear  in  mind,  that  our  various  necessi- 
ties, and  the  means  of  supplying  them,  are  distrib- 
uted in  varying  modes  and  proportions  through 
the  different  members,  in  order  to  keep  them  in  a 
state  of  mutual  dej^endence  and  reciprocal  influ- 
ence ;  so  that  no  one  may  break  loose  from  his 
connection  with  the  whole,  thinking  to  maintain 
an  existence  by  himself,  and  that  mutual  neces- 
sities may  serve  continually  for  the  furtherance 
of  mutual  love.  The  Christian  will  not  be 
ashamed,  therefore,  of  a  dependence  upon  others 
springing  from  such  a  connection ;  but  will  recog- 
nize it  as  the  law  naturally  arising  from  the  rela- 
tion of  the  members  to  one  another.  As  he  who 
gives  rejoices  in  having  received  from  God  means 
Avhich  he  may  use  for  the  aid  of  the  other  mem 
bers;  regarding  it  as  a  loan  for  this  purpose  from 
their  common  Lord,  as  a  medium  for  tlie  manifes- 
tation of  that  love  whicli  the  Spirit  of  God  has 
poured  into  tlie  hearts  of  believers,  that  being  the 
mark  by  Avhich  the  disciples  of  the  Lord,  the 
members  of  his  body,  are  to  be  known :  so  he  that 


PHILTPPIANS.  iO 

receives  rejoices  far  less  in  the  brief  temporal  ser- 
vice of  the  gift,  than  iu  the  heavenly  temper  ex* 
pressed  in  the  bestowal, — in  the  love,  that  vital 
principle  of  the  chm-ch,  which  manifests  itself  there- 
in. He  knows  that  it  is  for  the  highest  good  of  the 
giver  himself;  who  thus,  by  deeds  of  love,  sows 
in  the  earthly  life  what  he  shall  reap  in  life  eter- 
nal ;  who  thus  manifests  in  his  works  the  spirit 
which  makes  him  meet  for  life  eternal.  So  Paul 
represents  the  Christian  relation,  in  his  own  man- 
ner of  accepting  the  gifts  of  the  Philippian 
church,  when  he  says:  "I  rejoiced  in  the  Lord 
greatly  that  now  at  length  your  care  for  me  hath 
flourished  again," — rejoiced,  that  now  after  long- 
endured  privation,  they  are  placed  once  more  in  a 
condition  to  fulfil  the  wish  they  had  ever  felt,  to 
care  for  his  temporal  wants ; — "  because  ye  have 
ever  cared  for  me,  but  ye  lacked  opportunity. 
Not  that  I  speak  in  respect  of  want."  And  in 
conclusion  he  says :  "  Not  because  I  desire  a  gift, 
but  I  desire  fruit" — the  fruit  which  springs  for 
them  out  of  such  manifestations  of  love — "which 
may  abound  to  your  account" — may  be  laid  up  for 
life  eternal. 

Again :  Paul  here  gives  us  a  model  of  the  gen- 


76  PHILIPPIANS. 

uine  Cliristian  character,  in  his  demeanor  in  re- 
spect to  external  things.  The  Christian,  in  the 
power  of  the  Lord  through  which  he  is  able  to 
do  all  things,  proves  his  independence  of  the 
world,  and  his  supremacy  over  it,  by  his  ability 
to'  endure  joyfully  all  the  privations  which  the 
Lord  lays  upon  him,  in  the  circumstances  of  his 
lot,  in  what  is  required  of  him  by  his  calling.  His 
soul,  filled  with  the  divine  life,  cannot  be  bowed 
down  by  earthly  want.  Subjected  to  privation, 
he  so  much  the  more  feels  and  proves  his  inward 
inastery  of  the  world.  But  the  Christian  is  far 
also  from  that  self-imposed  mortification  of  the 
flesh,  in  an  imaginary  spirituality,  which  neverthe- 
less only  serves  for  the  satisfiiction  of  the  fleshly 
mind ;  for  in  the  Holy  Scriptures,  all  which  does 
not  proceed  fi-om  the  divine  Spirit,  all  which 
comes  from  our  own  will,  therefore  every  form  of 
vanity  and  spiritual  pride  is  ascribed  to  the  flesh. 
(Coloss.  ii.  23.'^^')  He  is  far  from  imposing  upon 
himself  privations,  in  order  thereby  to  merit  any- 


*  This  passage,  incorrectly  translated  by  Luther,  stands  thus  in  the  ori- 
ginal: "which  (namely,  the  principles  spoken  of  in  vss.  21  and  22)  have 
indeed  a  show  of  wisdom  in  self-chosen  spirituality  and  humility  and  raor- 
tiflcation  of  tlie  body,  but  have  no  worth,  serving  only  for  the  satisfyinjl 
of  the  flesh."    Kx.  MSS. 


PHILII'PIANS.  77 

thing  before  God  or  man,  though  submitting  joy  ■ 
fally  to  those  ^vhic]l  God  lays  u2:)on  him;  Inn 
accepts  with  humble  gratitude  whatever  God  may 
bestow  upon  him  above  what  is  required  for  his 
absolute  wants.  The  Christian's  greatness  is  ever 
built  upon  humility.  His  independence  of  the 
world,  his  supremacy  over  it,  consists  in  just  this, 
that  in  every  condition  of  want  or  abundance  lie 
is  the  same,  neither  depressed  by  want  nor  seduced 
by  prosperity  into  worldliness  and  vain-glory ;  that 
he  uses  botli  alike  in  order  to  make  known  that 
divine  life  by  which  he  is  raised  above  the  world. 
This  is  the  spirit  which  Paul  here  exhibits  when 
he  says,  that  though  he  needs  not  the  Philippians' 
gifts  of  love,  he  still  rejoices  in  that  love  which 
prompted  them ;  and  when  to  this  he  adds  the 
testimony,  that  he  has  accustomed  himself  to  all 
changes  of  condition ;  that  he  knows  how  to  adapt 
himself  equally  to  all  circumstances,  whether  of 
want  or  abundance,  through  the  power  of  Him 
who  animates  him.  "  I  have  learned,"  says  he, 
"  in  whatsoever  state  I  am,  therewith  to  be  content. 
I  know  both  how  to  ])e  aliased,  and  I  know  how 
to  abound  ;  in  every  respect  and  in  all  things  I 
am  fully  instructed,   both  to  be  full  and  to  be 


78  PHILIPPIANS. 

hungry,  both  to  abound  and  to  suffer  need.  I  can 
do  all  things  through  Christ  which  strengtheneth 
me."  Such  is  true  Christian  fortitude  and  great- 
ness of -soul,  whose  basis  is  humility. 


SECTION   SECOND. 

After  having  thus  carefully  considered  Paul  in 
his  then  existing  circumstances  and  temper  of  mind, 
let  us  now  turn  our  attention  to  the  state  of  tlie 
Philippian  church,  and  to  what  Paul  hns  to  sa}^  in 
reference  to  this,  by  way  of  warning  and  counsel 
for  the  future. 

We  will  first  take  a  general  view,  and  from  this 
pass  to  particulars. 

It  is  customary  with  Paul  to  commence  his 
letters,  with  a  recognition  of  whatever  is  praise- 
worthy in  the  church  to  which  he  is  writing. 
In  this  appears  his  wisdom  as  a  spiritual  guide. 
The  confidence  of  men  is  far  more  easily  won, 
and  a  hearing  secured  for  whatever  one  has  to  say 
in  the  way  of  admonition  andt  rebuke,  if  it  appeal's. 
that  he  nowise  overlooks  or  undervalues  what  is 
good  in  them,  that  he  does  not  willingly  find  f^iult, 
but  is  ready  io  acknowledge  every  real  excellence 
with  cordial,  approbation.     Good  and  bad,  more- 

/' 
/ 


80  PHILIPPIANS. 

over,  stand  frequently  in  close  connection  witli  each 
other.  The  good  lies  at  the  foundation  ;  but  the 
evil  mingles  its  disturbing  influence  with  the  good, 
and  hence  it  is  through  the  latter  that  we  can  best 
reach  and  remedy  the  former.  It  is  in  the  clear 
perception  of  this  relation,  and  in  the  skilful  use  of  it 
for  the  correction  of  error,  that  Paul  manifests  his 
wisdom.  Of  this  a  striking  example  is  famished  in 
the  iij'st  epistle  to  the  Corinthians.  Thus  Paul  re- 
gards whatever  of  real  value  he  finds  already  ex- 
isting in  the  churches,  not  as  something  produced 
in  them  from  themselves  and  by  their  own  agency, 
but  v/rought  in  them  by  the  Spirit  of  God,  that 
Spirit  which  has  begun  to  transform  them  into 
new  men.  Hence  he  feels  himself  constrained  to 
thank  God  for  that  which  He  has  wi'ought  in  their 
hearts  and  in  their  lives  by  his  grace,  before  he  of- 
fers to  Him  the  prayer,  that  what  He  has  already 
wrought  in  them  He  v/ill  more  and  more  purify, 
carry  it  forward,  and  bring  it  to  perfection.  Upon 
t-he  good  which  already  exists  in  them  he  builds  the 
hope,  that  they  will  ever  continue  to  advance  in 
goodness,  even  unto  perfection.  Not  indeed  upon 
the  good  as  a  work  of  man  can  he  rest  such  a  hope. 
He  knows  too  well  the  weakness  of  ratn,  too  well 


PHILIPPIANS.  81 

liow  subject  is  everything  human  to  constant 
change.  But  this  is  the  ground  of  his  hope,  that 
in  this  beginning  of  the  Christian  hfe  he  sees  not 
the  work  of  man  but  the  work  of  God.  He  thus 
builds  his  hope  upon  the  truth  and  faithfulness  of 
God,  who  *v,'ill  certainly  carry  forward  what  He 
has  begun,  through  all  conflicts  and  trials,  safely 
to  its  consummation.  It  is  not  God's  way  to  do 
things  by  halves.  Thus  too  does  Paul  begin  his 
letter  to  the  Philippians  ;  thanking  God  for  their 
living  fellowship  in  the  gospel  from  the  beginning 
up  to  the  present  hour;  and  then  expressing  the 
confidence,  that  He  who  has  begun  in  them  the 
good  work  will  also  carry  it  on  to  its  completion. 
In  this  it  is  indeed  always  presupposed  by  Paul, 
that  they  likewise  will  do  what  belongs  to  them, 
by  yielding  themselves  to  the  power  of  God  which 
works  nothini^  without  man,  albeit  man  without  it 
can  work  nothing ;  as  in  the  eleventh  chapter  of 
the  epistle  to  the  Romans  (v.  22),  he  represents 
the  continued  manifestation  of  God's  goodness  in 
men  as  conditioned  on  their  continuing  in  His 
goodness,  and  thus  susceptible  of  the  grace  of  God 
by  truly  yielding  themselves  up  to  its  influence. 
It  is  on  this  connection  between  the  divine  and  the 


82  PHILIPriANS. 

human  lie  founds  the  exliortation,  "  to  work  out 
their  salvation  with  fear  and  trembling ;  for,"  he 
adds,  "it  is  God  who  woi-keth  in  you  both  the 
willing  and  the  doing,  of  his  own  good  jDleasure.""  It 
is  here  assumed  that  the  salv^ation  of  man  is  condi- 
tioned upon  his  own  conduct.  He  is  himself  to 
work  out  his  salvation.  And  yet  Paul  always 
represents  the  salvation  of  man  as  something  which 
can  be  accomplished  only  through  the  grace  of 
God,  as  the  work  of  God  in  man.  But  he  adds,  in 
this  passage,  a  more  exact  designation  of  the  tem- 
per of  heart  with  which  they  should  work  out 
their  salvation,  viz.,  "  with  fear  and  trembling." 
This  Avould  not  be  appropriate  if  he  were  speaking 
of  what  lay  merely  in  the  hand  of  man,  in  which 
case  all  would  depend  upon  his  own  strength.  It 
is  because  Paul  is  conscious  of  the  vveakness  and 
insufficiency  of  all  human  strength,  because  he  pre- 
supposes that  man  can  do  nothing  Avithout  God, 
and  must  constantly  watch  over  himself,  lest 
through  his  own  fault  he  lose  the  aid  of  divine 
grace,  without  which  all  human  efforts  are  in  vain ; 
it  is  for  this  reason  that  he  designates  this  temper 
of  mind  as  one  of  fear  and  trembling,  as  the  feel- 
ing of  persona]  accountability  and  helplessness,  of 


PHILIFPIAN-S.  S3 

insecurity  and  instability  in  ourselves,  by  which 
we  may  be  ever  admonished  to  continual  watch- 
fulness, and  to  ever-renewed  waiting  upon  God  as 
the  fountain  of  all  our  strens; th.  Hence,  as  the 
ground  of  sucli  an  admonition,  he  appeals  to  this 
consciousness  that  we  can  of  ourselves  do  notliing, 
that  it  is  God  who  alone  bestows  upon  us  the 
power  to  will  and  to  jDerform  what  is  needful  to 
our  salvation ;  that  all,  indeed,  depends  upon  his 
sovereign  will.  This  feeling  of  dependence,  the 
ground-tone  of  the  Christian  life,  is  ever  to  be 
maintained.  It  is  this  Avhich  must  combat  the  pre- 
sumption of  a  vain  human  self-reliance,  which,  find- 
ing itself  deceived  in  the  result,  so  easily  gives  place 
to  dejection  and  despair. 

All  the  admonitions  which  Paul  gives  the  Phi- 
lippians  in  reference  to  the  Christian  walk,  are 
comprehended  in  this  one ;  that  they  should  "walk 
in  a  manner  worthy  of  the  Gospel  of  Christ." 
And  what  is  required  of  them  in  their  position,  in 
the  midst  of  a  corrupt  world,  he  points  out  in 
chapter  ii.  15-16.  Inasmuch,  he  says,  as  they  are 
called  to  live  as  children  of  God  in  the  midst  of  a 
corrupt  world,  they  are  called  to  maintain  unsul- 
lied, amidst   all  the   defilements   of  surrounding 


84  PHILIPPIAN3. 

pollution,  that  divine  life  of  which,  as  children  of 
God,  they  have  become  participants,  and  to  show 
forth  its  glory  in  contrast  with  the  perverse  gene- 
ration in  which  they  live.  The  terms  "  crooked 
and  perverse,"  in  which  Paul  describes  this  wicked 
generation,  have  reference  to  the  perver.sion  of  the 
original  godlike  nature,  which  can  be  restored  only 
through  the  new  creation.  So  also,  as  children  of 
God,  they  are  to  shine  as  lights,  as  radiant  lumina- 
ries in  the  world  of  darkness.  Whilst  all  around 
them  is  darkness,  here  alone  shall  all  be  light.  So 
indeed  does  Christ  say  to  those  who  belong  to  liis 
kingdom,  that  they  are  to  be  the  lights  of  the 
world,  just  as  He  is  the  Sun  who  sends  his  light 
into  this  dark  world,  its  light  iu  the  liighe.st  and 
only  true  sense.  Thus  what  He  is,  is  communica- 
ted to  those  who  enter  into  fellowship  with  him, 
and  they  too  through  him  become  the  light  of  the 
world.  This  light  shines  in  the  holy  walk  of 
Christians,  and  thereby  do  they  testify  of  Him 
who  is  light  itself,  and  in  whom  is  no  darkness ; 
thereby  do  they  glorify  him  and  lead  others  to  ac- 
knowledge and  honor  him ;  as  Christ  himself  has 
said ;  "  Let  your  light  so  shine  before  men,  that 
they  seeing  your  good  works  may  glorify  your 


rniLiiTiAis's.  85 

Father  wliicli  is  iti  Heaven.'"  Tliey  are  to  testify 
of  tliat  whicli  is  life,  to  show  fortli  the  true  life  in 
this  \vorld  of  death  *  Everything  whicli  men,  in 
accordance  with  the  revelation  of  the  law  written 
ill  their  consciences  through  the  impulses  of  their 
moral  natm'e,  are  accustomed  to  account  moral  and 
virtuous,  belongs  also  to  the  peculiar  stamp  of  this 
new  divine  life,  in  which  tlie  children  of  God  mani- 
fest themselves  as  such.  All  must  find  its  fulfil- 
ment here ;  only  that  is  done  aw^ay  w^liich  proceeds 
from  the  disturbing  influence  of  sin ;  as  Christ  says, 
that  he  "  came  not  to  destroy  but  to  fulfil."  Hence 
it  is  the  conclusion  of  Paul's  exhortation,f  that 
their  minds  be  directed  only  to  "  what  is  true" — 
(true  and  good  being  in  the  biblical  sense  one  and 
the  same,  the  truth  here  appears  as  that  which 
penetrates  and  gives  direction  to  the  whole  life ; 
all  has  its  root  in  the  truth,  the  true  is  the  divine) 
— to  "•  w^hat  is  becoming,  wdiat  is  upright,  what  is 
chaste,  what  is  lovely,  what  is  of  good  report,  what- 
ever is  virtue  and  wdiatever  is  praise."  Thus  it  is 
implied  by  Paul,  that  tlie  divine  life  must  manifest 
itself  in  an  amiable  foi'm  before  men;  and  he  ap- 

*  As  in  some  MSS.  "  holding  fovth  the  true  life." 
f  Chap.  iv.  8.  * 


86  PllTLlPPIANS. 

peals  to  ^vllnt  they  h.-ul  learned  from  liis  instruc- 
tions, and  had  witnessed  in  the  example  of  his  own 
life.  Although,  as  we  have  seen  above,  he  was  far 
from  holding  liis  life  to  be  entirely  pure  and  per- 
fect, yet  he  could  with  confidence  assume  the  essen- 
tial correspondence  between  his  life  and  teachings, 
and  that  his  conduct  did  not  give  the  lie  to  his  in- 
sti-uctions.  And  thus  he  was  able,  without  un- 
truth or  self-exaltation,  to  hold  up  to  the  Philip- 
pians  the  example  of  his  own  course  among  them 
as  an  admonition  to  them.  Self-exaltation  is  the 
less  to  be  attributed  to  him  here,  as  he  was  him- 
self fully  conscious,  that  whatever  in  his  own  con- 
duct he  proposed  as  their  example  was  only  the 
work  of  grace,  the  fruit  of  the  new  creation  in  him. 
tSo  may  the  Christian  when  made  aware,  by  a  com- 
parison of  his  earlier  and  later  life,  of  having  gained 
the  victory  over  the  old  nature  in  any  of  its  sinful 
tendencies,  be  fully  conscious  of  this  and  freely  re- 
joice over  it ;  for  this  is  no  self-exaltation.  He 
knows  that  it  is  not  to  his  own  nature  or  his  own 
strength  that  he  is  indebted  for  it;  that  the  Spii-it 
of  God,  the  Spirit  of  Christ  has  wrought  this  in 
him ;  and  therefore  the  consciousness  of  his  victory 
only  impels  him  to  praise  and  to  thank  Him,  through 


PHILIPPIANS.  87 

whose  power  he  has  attained  it.  And  at  the  same 
time,  he  feels  himself  constrained  to  acknowledge 
how  much  still  remains  for  him  to  contend  with, 
and  with  the  Apostle,  whose  words  we  have 
quoted,  to  forget  what  is  behind  and  press  continu- 
ally forward. 

The  church  at  Philippi,  as  we  have  already  re- 
marked, had  been  called  to  endure  many  forms  of 
persecution.  It  was  necessary  that  Paul  should 
exhort  them  to  steadfastness  under  these  trials. 
How  then  does  he  express  himself?  It  is  impor- 
tant for  us  to  bring  this  out  clearly,  for  it  is  appli- 
cable to  all  the  conflicts  which  Christianity  has  to 
encounter  in  all  times.  They  should  in  no  wise 
suffer  themselves  to  be  terrified  by  their  adversa- 
ries ;*  "  which  to  them  is  an  evident  token  of  per- 
dition, but  to  you  of  salvation  and  that  of  God. 
For  to  you  it  is  given,  for  the  sake  of  Christ — not 
only  to  believe  on  him — but  for  his  sake  to  suffer 
also."  What  is  the  full  import  of  these  words  ? 
This  is  best  shown  by  contrast.  Had  the  opposers 
of  the  gospel  succeeded  in  terrifying  the  Philip- 
pians,  it  would  thereby  have  been  made  manifest 
how  much  these  opposers  could  effect,  what  power 

*  Chap.  i.  28,  29. 


88  PHILTPPIANS. 

they  possessed ;  the  weakness  of  the  Philippians 
would  have  appeared,  and  the  cause  which  they 
served  might  have  seemed  an  impotent  one.  Or  it 
might  have  seemed  merely  a  contest  between  man 
and  man,  their  opponents  being  the  stronger  and 
they  the  weaker  party.  Their  demeanor  would 
have  been  a  testimony,  how  much  was  still  wanting 
to  them  of  that  divine  power  which  was  to  manifest 
its  efficacy  in  believers ;  how  much,  therefore,  they 
still  lacked  of  the  genuine  life  of  f  lith.  But  while 
they  did  not  suffer  themselves  to  be  terrified  by 
those  who  warred  with  weapons  of  the  flesh,  this 
was  a  proof  that  they  were  in  the  service  of  a  divine 
cause,  victorious  over  all  human  o2:)position ;  that 
a  power  of  God  wrought  in  them  against  which  no 
human  force  could  avail.  The  conflict  with  their 
adversaries  served  but  to  test  and  to  approve  their 
faith,  and  their  power  through  fliith.  It  was  a 
proof  of  the  vanity  of  their  opposers'  eflbrts ;  even 
as  Christ  reckons  it  as  one  of  the  works  of  the 
Holy  Spirit,  to  lead  men  to  the  conviction  that  tlie 
Prince  of  this  w^orld  has  been  judged,  and  hence 
can  accomplish  nothing  farther  through  his  instru- 
ments (Jno.  xvi.  11).  Thus  through  them  is  this 
power  of  the  Holy  Spirit  manifested.     So  far,  it 


PHILIPPIANS.  89 

was  an  evidence  of  tlie  condemnation  drawn  upon 
themselves  by  those  who  warred  in  the  service  of 
the  Prince  of  this  world.  But  for  the  Philippians, 
it  was  for  that  very  reason  a  certain  proof,  a  pledge, 
of  their  salvation;  for  the  faith  which  remains 
steadfast  in  conflict  is  indeed  assured  of  salva- 
tion. It  Vv^as  the  pledge  that  the  power  of  God, 
through  which  they  were  able  to  hold  themselves 
unterrified  by  their  adversaries,  would  also  lead 
them  through  all  conflicts  to  final  salvation ;  as  in 
the  works  of  God  one  thing  answers  to  another,  one 
guaranties  the  other.  And  thus  Paul  gives  spe- 
cial prominence  to  the  thought,  that  this  is  not  of 
man  ;  that  it  is  no  illusive  human  proof,  but  a  fac- 
tual proof  given  by  God  himself  It  is  one  part 
of  this  proof,  that  to  them  it  was  given  of  God  to 
suffer  for  Christ's  sake.  For  whoever  follows 
Christ  in  his  sufferings,  must  needs  follow  him  also 
in  his  glorification.  Paul  had  said,  "  for  Christ's 
sake ;"  intending  at  first  only  to  say,  "  for  Christ's 
sake  to  suffer."  But  he  would  bring  out  the  full 
meaning  of  this  with  a  stronger  emphasis.  Pic 
therefore  interrupts  himself,  and  says,  "  not  merely 
to  believe  on  him,  but  for  his  sake  to  suffer  also.'* 
He  who  believes  in  Christ  is,  so  far  as  his  faith  ap- 


^0  PHILIPPIANS. 

proves  itself  to  be  genuine,  certain  of  the  blesst.?- 
ness  of  heaven.  But  it  is  also  requisite  that  this 
faith  approve  itself  to  be  genuine,  by  assuring  its 
possessors  against  all  fear  of  their  adversaries ;  and 
by  giving  them  the  power  to  follow  Christ  in  his 
sufferings,  as  in  general  its  office  is,  in  all  things,  to 
bring  them  into  fellowship  with  Christ.  And 
therefore,  although  with  faith  in  Christ,  as  the  root 
of  all  else  pertaining  to  the  Christian  life,  all  else 
is  given  so  far  as  regards  the  principle  whence  it 
springs,  the  germinating  power  whicli  produces  it ; 
yet  to  suffer  for  Christ  is  more  than  merely  to  be- 
lieve on  him,  inasmuch  as  through  these  sufferings 
the  power  of  faith  makes  itself  manifest,  approves 
itself  to  be  genuine.  For  one  might  suppose  him- 
self the  possessor  of  that  genuine  faith,  and  yet  the 
result,  when  he  was  found  to  shun  a  participation 
in  the  suffeiings  of  Christ,  would  prove  the  con- 
trary. In  another  view,  indeed,  suffering  is  of  less 
account  than  faith.  For  there  might  be  a  suffering 
too,  which  w^as  not  true  Christian  suffering,  as  not 
proceeding  from  the  life  of  faith,  that  fiiith  which 
works  by  love.  As  Paul  says  in  1  Cor.  xiii.  3 ; 
'*  And  though  I  give  my  body  to  be  burned,  and 
have  not  charity,  it  profiteth  me  nothing."     The 


PHILIPPIANS.  91 

same  is  true,  in  general,  of  the  relation  of  faitli  to 
the  entire  course  of  Christian  life  in  its  outward 
manifestation,  of  the  relation  of  faith  to  good  works. 
It  everywhere  finds  an  application,  in  a  greater  or 
less  degree,  in  respect  to  the  relation  of  the  inward 
to  the  outward,  of  the  internal  feeling  to  its  mani- 
festation in  action. 

The  Christian  life  is  no  instinctive,  unconscious 
one.  It  follows  not  feeling  alone  ;  but  demands, 
everywhere  and  in  all  things,  an  intelligent  dis- 
crimination between  what  is  of  God  and  what  is 
not,  in  respect  to  all  the  relations  of  life  ;  between 
what  accords  to  the  will  of  the  Lord,  to  the  spirit 
and  nature  of  Christianity,  and  what  is  in  contra- 
riety thereto.  It  cannot  subsist,  cannot  fulfil  its 
mission,  without  a  considerate  conscious  process  of 
scrutiny  and  discrimination.  ,  As  flesh  and  spirit 
are  still  coexisting  in  the  Christian,  and  are  ever  in 
conflict  with  each  other ;  so  the  power  of  discrim- 
inating what  proceeds  from  the  one  or  the  other, 
what  is  in  accordance  with  the  one  or  the  other,  is 
continually  needed,  in  order  that  the  Christian 
may  not  yield  to  the  suggestions  of  the  flesh,  when 
he  thinks  he  is  acting  according  to  the  impulses  of 
the  spirit.     Of  such  a  testing  and  discriminating 


92  PHILTPPIANS. 

process  there  was  especial  need,  in  cliurches  estab- 
lished in  the  midst  of  the  Pagan  or  Jewish  world  ; 
since  there,  Christianity,  contending  with  existing 
customs  relations  and  views  of  life  which  were  the 
product  of  another  spirit  and  principle,  was  now 
first  to  bring  into  existence  a  new  creation,  in  which 
Christ  should  be  all  in  all.  Here  of  course  the 
question  must  often  arise :  What  does  Christianity 
require  ?  In  what  respects  does  the  heathen  oi- 
Jewish  point  of  view  stand  opposed  to  it  ?  Wli '-re- 
in may  the  Christian  conform  himself  to  the  world, 
wherein  may  he  not  ?  For  this  reason  Paul,  in  hi.s 
practical  admonitions  to  this  church,  desires  for 
them  especially  increase  in  knowledge,*  in  the  fac- 
ulty of  perception;  that  they  might  test  things 
which  differ,  the  good  and  the  bad,  the  true  and 
the  false,  that  thus  they  might  avoid  the  one  and 
choose  the  other.  Paul  assumes  that,  for  this  work, 
the  diligent  exercise  of  the  faculty  of  perception  is 
necessary ;  that  such  a  power  of  discernment  is  the 
fruit  of  unremitting  exercise  of  the  Christian  judg- 
ment. In  like  manner  in  the  epistle  to  the  He- 
brews (v.  14),  it  is  accounted  one  of  the  attributes 
of  the  state  of  Christian  maturity,  that,  through 

*  Chap.  L  9. 


pniLTPPiANS.  93 

tlie  exercise  of  tlie  organs  of  spiritual  perception, 
a  readiness  Lad  been  attained  for  distinguishing 
good  and  evil.  But  if,  on  the  one  hand,  there  are 
objects  of  knowledge  and  judgment  where  all  de 
pends  on  the  exercise  of  the  understanding,  where 
lie  who  is  most  practised  in  thinking  possesses  also 
the  best  judgment,  and  is  most  fully  guarded 
against  error ;  j^et  in  regard  to  the  objects  which 
the  iVpostle  has  in  mind,  those  pertaining  to  moral 
duties,  this  is  by  no  means  the  case.  In  general, 
we  shall  often  find  how  much  the  judgment  is  here 
biassed  by  the  direction  of  the  will.  The  mistakes 
which  lie  at  the  basis  of  action,  and  errors  in  con- 
duct, arise  not  so  much  from  defect  in  the  thinking 
fiiculty,  as  from  selfish  inclinations  which  sway  the 
judgment.  And  this  is  particularly  the  case  with 
Christianity,  v/hich  assigns  wholly  new  objects  as 
the  aim  of  life.  To  know  what  is  in  harmony  with 
it.  Love  must  be  the  controlling  and  directing  prin- 
ciple of  the  whole  life.  The  more  entirely  one  is 
animated  by  love,  the  more  will  his  moral  judg- 
ment be  in  harmony  with  Christianity.  A  soul, 
however  well  practised  in  thinking,  wiU  miss  the 
right,  if  not  thus  quickened  and  the  eye  of  the 
spirit  made  single  by  love.     To  this  we  must  add, 


94  PHILIPPIANS. 

that  Christianity  is  no  mere  law  of  (he  letter, 
which  establishes  only  single  general  rules  of  duty, 
according  to  which  all  single  cases  of  conduct  are 
to  be  determined ;  but  it  is  a  law  of  the  Spirit, 
which  makes  known  to  eacli  individual  his  peculiar 
mission  in  life,  that  very  one  which  the  Lord  has 
appointed  him  to  fulfil,  and  what  is  needed  for  its 
fulfilment.  No  one  can  prescribe  to  another,  what 
from  his  standpoint,  under  his  appointed  relations, 
it  is  his  duty  to  do;  but  it  is  Loye,  that  spirit 
common  to  all,  which  makes  known  to  eacii  in 
particular  what  is  duty  for  him,  and  in  i-eferenco 
to  this  leads  him  to  make  the  necessar\'  discrimina- 
tion. To  love,  therefore,  Paul  hei'e  gives  the  first 
place,  and  ascribes  to  its  quickening  presence  the 
knowledge  and  capacity  required  for  distinguishing 
the  good  and  the  bad,  the  true  and  the  false ;  as 
he  himself  expresses  it,  "  that  your  love  may  more 
and  more  abound  in  all  knowledge;"  meaning, 
that  therein  its  effect  is  seen, — that  increase  of 
knowledge  in  the  fruit  of  more  abundant  love. 
But  as  here  the  theoretical  proceeds  from  the 
practical,  the  new  direction  of  the  judgment  from 
the  new  direction  of  the  will,  of  the  moral  disposi- 
tion ;  so  is  the  theoretical  in  like  manner  to  react 


i-e 


PHILIPPIANS.  95 

upon  the  practical,  the  enlightened  judgment  upon 
the  conduct.     Hence  Paul  adds,  as  the  object  to  he, 
thus  attained,  that  they  should  continue  "pure  and 
irreproachable"  in  their  Christian  walk,  until  all 
shall  appear  before  the  Lord  ;  "  being  filled  with 
the  fruit  of  righteousness,  which  is  hy  Jesus  Christ, 
to  the  glor}^  and  praise  of  God."     Thus  Paul  her 
designates  righteousness,  not  as  something  to  be 
gradually  acquired  ;  but  on  the  contrary,  it  is  pi-e- 
supposed  as  something  inherent  in  their  fellowship 
with  Christ,  flowing  out  to  them  from  him,  as  pro- 
duced in  them  by  his  Spirit.     He  contemplates  the 
entire  Christian  life  as  the  fruit  of  this  righteous- 
ness ;  not  speaking,  as  in  other  passages,  of  single 
fruits  in  single  works,  but  of  the  whole  Christian 
course  in  its  connected  unity  as  one  fruit,  and  that 
the  fruit  which  is  produced  by  Jesus  Christ.  That 
from  him  all  proceeds,  that  through  him  all  is  ac- 
complished, is  the  very  thing  which  gives  to  such 
a  life  its  peculiar  stamp.     This  it  is  which  is  truly 
well-pleasing  unto  God,  and  by  which  God  is  truly 
glorified,  even  as  the  whole  life  of  Christ  was  a 
glorifying  of  God  in  our  nature.     But  it  is  also 
clear  from  what  has  been  said,  that  though,  as  a 
whole,  the  Christian  life  is  thus  represented  as  a 


96  PHILIPPIANS. 

fruit  of  rigliteousness  ])rodiiced  by  Jesu3  Christ, 
yet  witli  this  are  presiip])(^sed  Diaiiy  different  stages 
of  development,  many  sepai'ate  results  of  the  recip- 
rocal working  of  the  practical  and  theoretical,  of 
the  moral  disposition  and  the  judgment,  as  neces- 
sary to  the  production  of  this  sum  total;  just  as 
the  fruit  of  the  tree,  to  follow  the  image  chosen  by 
Paul,  does  not  attain  to  its  full  form  and  maturity 
at  once,  but  through  many  preparatory  stages  in 
the  natural  process  of  development  and  growth. 

We  have  already  observed  Paul's  manner  of 
contemplating  the  church  as  a  whole  consisting 
of  various  members,  whose  growth  is  dependent 
on  the  harmonious  co-operation  of  all.  But  many 
hindrances  stood  opposed  to  this  harmonious  ac- 
tion ;  and  these  could  only  be  overcome  gradu- 
ally by  the  subduing  power  of  the  Christian  spirit. 
Only  by  degrees,  and  through  the  power  of  that 
spirit,  could  this  higher  unity  be  formed  out  of 
the  conflicting  elements  existing  in  the  church. 
Some  of  these  originated  in  national  differences,  ii> 
the  modes  of  thought  peculiar  to  those  of  Jewisl) 
or  of  pagan  parentage.  From  these  arose  tliose 
opposite  leading  tendencies,  of  udiich  we  shall 
speak  more  })articularly  hereafter.   There  was  also 


PHILIPPIANS.  97 

tlie  difference  of  rank  and  wealth,  wliicli  threat- 
ened to  impair  the  spirit  of  oneness  and  equality 
in  the  Christian  body.  And,  finally,  there  Vv'ere 
differences  arising  from  peculiarities  in  constitu- 
tion and  mental  endowments,  all  which  had  been 
])rought  by  Christianit}^  into  its  service.  Hence 
tlie  diversities  in  the  operations  of  the  Holy  Spirit, 
animating  these  different  natural  gifts ;  and  hence 
too  the  diversity  of  spiritual  gifts,  and  of  offices 
connected  with  them,  in  the  church.  From  all 
these  diversities  collisions  might  arise,  disturbing 
the  unity  and  harmony  of  the  church  ;  each  might 
wish  to  magnify  what  was  peculiar  to  himself,  and 
thus  self-exaltation  and  disunion  follow,  occasion- 
ing strife  among  the  members.  Plere  then,  in 
•arder  to  secure  that  unity  in  the  church  which  be- 
longs to  its  nature,  all  must  be  harmonized  by  the 
victorious  spirit  of  love.  It  is  clear  how  impor- 
tant and  necessary,  under  these  relations,  were 
Paul's  reproofs  and  admonitions,  his  warnings 
a<?ainst  self-exaltation  and  disunion,  his  exhorta- 
tions  to  humility  and  harmony.  Let  us  examine 
this  point  more  particularly.  If  they  would  make 
his  joy  complete,*  they  must  be  of  the  same  mind, 

*  Chap.  ii.  2,  8. 
5 


98  PHILIPPIANS. 

liaving  the  same  love,  T)eiDg  of  one  accord,  of  one 
mind ;  nothing  must  be  done  through  party  spirit 
or  vain  ambition,  but  in  humiHty  each  must  es- 
teem others  better  than  himself.  But  how  are  we 
to  understand  this?  One's  judgment  of  another 
is  not  within  the  control  of  his  own  will.  How 
can  he  esteem  his  brother  higher  than  himself,  if 
this  is  not  in  accordance  with  the  truth ;  if  he  can- 
not but  perceive  in  himself  excellencies  which  are 
wanting  to  the  other,  and  defects  in  the  other  from 
which  he  is  himself  free?  Hov,'  can  it  be  required 
of  him  to  do  violence  to  his  judgment  ?  Is  he  to 
practise  deception  upon  himself?  Is  humility  to 
be  grounded  upon  falsehood  ?  Most  certainly  not. 
If  one  should  endeavor  to  work  himself  into  such 
a  judgment  of  othera  in  comparison  with  himself, 
or  should  express  such  a  judgment  without  re- 
ally thinking  so,  this  would  be  mere  hypocrisy  in 
a  grosser  or  more  refined  form.  But  there  is  here 
pre-supposed,  as  resulting  from  the  full  develop- 
ment of  the  Christian  life,  a  pervading  temper  of 
heart,  of  which  such  a  judgment  of  one's  self  in 
comparison  with  other-s  is  but  the  necessary  and 
natural  expression.  The  Christian's  love  will  lead 
him  first  of  all  to  discern  what  is  good  in  another, 


PHILIPPIANS.  99 

to  discover  even  in  his  blemislies  Ms  peculiar  gifts, 
that  in  which  he  is  really  superior  to  himself; 
while,  on  the  other  hand,  through  a  self-scrutiny 
sharpened  by  the  Spirit  which  quickens  him,  he 
detects  with  rigorous  exactness  his  own  faults. 
And  this  self-rigor,  united  with  love,  will  give 
leniency  to  his  judgment  of  whatever  may  obscure 
the  divine  life  in  others.  Thus  a  readiness  to  take 
such  a  position,  in  respect  to  others,  as  is  here  rep- 
resented, will  not  be  a  mere  casual  thing  with 
the  Christian,  something  produced  in  him  from 
without  by  external  influence ;  but  is  the  sponta- 
neous result  of  the  internal  process  of  Christian 
development.  And  this  manner  of  viewing  one's 
self,  in  relation  to  others,  will  appear  likewise  in 
his  whole  conduct  in  regard  to  them.  The  idea  is 
of  course  excluded  that  one  should  make  himself 
the  centre  of  all,  referring  everything  to  himself, 
and  thus  regarding  all  others  as  existing  but  for 
Lira.  It  is  clear  how  greatly  others  will  in  this 
way  rise  in  his  estimation.  This  spirit  of  love  and 
humility  will  manifest  itself  in  his  deportment 
towards  others ;  and  hence  it  is  added :  "  Look  not 
each  one  upon  his  own  things,  but  also  on  the 
things  of  others."     Let  each  one  be  ready  to  sub- 


100  PHILIPl'IANS. 

ordinate  Lis  own  intei-est  to  that  of  atliers,  to  deny 
Mmself  for  the  welfare  o\:  others.  Paul  says, 
"also,"  although  the  form  of  the  first  clause  would 
not  lead  us  to  expect  such  a  limitation.  But  he 
adds  this  "also"  because  it  is  not  his  aim  wholly 
to  exclude  the  care  for  our  own  interests,  but  only 
to  0]3pose  the  tendency  to  make  this  predominant, 
to  allow  it  to  swallow  up  all  else.  Of  course  he 
here  speaks  only  of  human,  worldly  interests, 
which  one  is  bound  to  sacrifice  for  the  best  good 
of  others ;  for  in  regard  to  that  which  is  the  high- 
est and  properly  real  interest  of  each  one  pei'son- 
ally,  his  own  soul's  welfare,  the  cultivation  of  the 
inner  man  for  the  life  of  eternity,  no  such  contra- 
riety can  exist,  no  such  requirement  of  self-denial 
can  be  made.  But  does  this  seem  to  conflict  with 
what  we  have  previously  remarked  of  self-denial 
in  reference  even  to  the  higher  interests  of  the 
spirit  ?  By  no  means.  The  true,  the  highest  in- 
terest of  the  spirit,  that  it  should  be  ever  grow- 
ing in  self-denying  love,  in  purification  from  al) 
selfishness,  thereby  becoming  ever  more  meet  for 
the  kingdom  of  God  and  eternal  life,  this  must  al- 
ways be  promoted  by  such  sacrifices,  even  in  refei-- 
ence  to  what  we  call  the  higher  interests  of  the 


PHILIPPIANS. 


101 


soul,  which  yet  are  not  its  highest  interest.     In 

reference  to  snch  a  temper  and  course  of  conduct, 

Paul  now  presents,  as  the  type  and  pattern,  Him 

after  whom  the  whole  Christian  life  in  its  spirit 

Mild  conduct  should  be  moulded,  Chkist  himself. 

'^  Let  the  same  mind  be  in  you  which  was  also  in 

Christ  Jesus :  who,  being  in  the  form  of  God,  did 

not  eagerly  claim   equality  with  God;'"*  (so,  we 

think  the  Greek  is  more  truly  expressed  than  in 

Luther's  version;)    but  emptied  himself,  taking 

the  form  of  a  servant,  being  made  in  the  likeness 

of  men ;  and  being  found  in  fashion  as  a  man,  he 

humbled  himself,  becoming  obedient  unto  death, 

even  the  death  of  the  cross.     Therefore  also  hath 

God  exalted  him  over  all,  and  hath  given  him  a 

name  which  is  above  every  name,  that  in  the  name 

of  Jesus  every  knee  should  bow,  of   beings  in 

heaven  and  upon   the  earth  and  underneath  the 

earth,  and  every  tongue  confess  that  Jesus  Christ 

is  Lord  to  the  glory  of  God  the  Father." 

That  we  may  rightly  understand  the  use  here 
made  of  the  example  of  Christ,  as  the  model  after 
which  the  Christian  life  is  to  be  formed,  we  must 

*  In  his  appearance  on  earth,  as  understood  by  Neander;  see  page 
103,  line  3.— Te. 


102  PHILIPPIANS. 

first  endeavor  to  bring  the  model  itself  clearly  and 
distinctly  before  our  minds.  Before  the  eye  of 
the  Apostle  stands  the  image  of  the  whole 
Christ,  the  Son  of  God  appearing  in  the  flesh, 
manifestinor  himself  in  human  nature.  From  the 
human  manifestation  he  rises  to  the  Eternal  Word 
(as  John  expresses  it),  that  Word  which  was,  be- 
fore the  appearance  of  the  Son  of  God  in  time, 
yea,  before  the  worlds  were  made ;  in  whom  be- 
fore all  time  God  beheld  and  imaged  hinself ;  as 
Paul  in  the  Epistle  to  the  Colossians  calls  him,  in 
this  view,  the  image  of  the  invisible,  i.  e.  of  the 
incomprehensible  God.  Then,  after  this  11  [> ward 
glance  of  his  spiritual  eye,  he  descends  again  into 
the  depths  of  the  human  life,  in  which  the  Eternal 
Word  appears  as  man.  He  expresses  this  in  the 
language  of  immediate  perception,  beholding  the 
divine  and  human  as  one  ;  not  in  the  form  of  ab- 
stract truth,  attained  by  a  mental  analysis  of  the 
direct  object  of  thought.  Thus  he  contemplates 
the  entrance  of  the  Son  of  God  into  the  form  of 
humanity  as  a  self-abasement,  a  self-renunciation, 
for  the  salvation  of  those  whose  low  estate  he 
stooped  to  share.  He  whose  state  of  being  was 
divine,  who  was  exalted  above  all  the  wants  and 


PHILIPPIANS.  103 

limitations  of  the  finite  and  earthly  existence,  did 
not  (Mgerly  claim  this  equality  with  God  which  he 
posse>^se(l ;  but,  on  the  contrary,  he  concealed  and 
disowned  it  in  human  abasement,  and  in  the  forms 
of  human  dependence.  And  as  the  whole  human 
life  of  Christ  proceeded  from  such  an  act  of  self- 
renunciation  and  self-abasement,  so  did  his  whole 
earthly  life  correspond  to  this  one  act  even  to  his 
death ;  the  consciousness  on  the  one  hand  of  divine 
dignity  which  it  was  in  his  power  to  claim,  and  on 
the  other  the  concealment,  the  renunciation  of 
this,  in  every  form  of  humiliation  and  dependence 
belonging  to  the  earthly  life  of  man.  The  crown- 
ing point  appears  in  his  death, — the  ignominious 
and  agonizing  death  of  the  cross.  Paul  now  pro- 
ceeds to  show  what  Christ  attained  by  such  self- 
renunciation,  thus  carried  to  the  utmost  limit,  by 
such  submissive  obedience  in  the  form  of  a  ser- 
vant; the  reward  which  he  received  in  return, 
the  dignity  which  was  conferred  upon  him. 

Here  too  is  presented  the  universal  law,  laid 
down  by  Christ  himself,  that  whoso  lium])les  him- 
self, and  in  proportion  as  he  humbles  himself,  shall 
be  exalted.  Now  it  is  of  itself  apparent  that  He 
who,  according  to  Paul's  teaching,  was  in  his  own 


104  PHILIPPIANS. 

nature  elevated  above  all,  the  first-born  over  the 
whole  creation,  He  through  whom  and  in  whom 
all  was  created,  could  not  as  such  be  exalted. 
But,  as  already  intimated,  it  is  the  image  of  the 
One  Christ  uniting  in  himself  the  divine  and  hu- 
man, which  is  here  before  the  mind  of  Paul.  Of 
this  Christ  in  humanity  it  might  be  predicated, 
that  He  is  as  man  exalted  above  all, — the  glorified 
Son  of  man.  And  this  his  exaltation  subserves  no 
selfish  interest.  He  finds  his  exaltation  in  the  sal- 
vation of  fallen  beings.  This  was  its  end,  in  this 
indeed  it  should  consist,  that  by  the  universal  ac- 
knowledgment of  Him  as  Lord  and  Saviour  and 
subjection  to  Him  as  such,  God  might  be  glorified 
in  Him  and  through  Him ;  glorified  in  the  trium- 
phant establishment  of  his  kingdom.  What  appli- 
cation then  is  to  be  made  of  this  example,  in  the 
connection  in  which  the  Apostle  introduces  it  ? 
As  Christ  aimed  only  to  subserve  the  salvation  of 
men,  so  should  Christians  be  ready  to  labor  thus 
for  the  salvation  of  their  brethren.  As  Christ  of- 
fered u])  all  for  the  salvation  of  men,  so  shouhl 
Christians  also  lie  ready  to  offer  up  all  for  the  sal- 
vation of  tlieir  l)rethren;  to  give  up  everything 
for  others,  in  order  to  secure  their  highest  welfare ; 


PHILIPPIANS.  105 

« 

thus  in  self-liurailiatioii  and  self-renunciation  fol- 
lowing tlieir  Lord.  So  shall  the  life  of  the  Chris- 
tian too,  from  its  first  spiritual  beginning,  from  the 
first  act  of  faith,  ])e  a  continuous  self-abasement  and 
self-renunciation.  And  this  being  the  ground  and 
condition  of  Clirist's  exaltation  as  the  Sou  of  man, 
so  shall  the  same  be,  for  believers  who  thus  follow 
Christ,  the  ground  and  condition  of  their  exalta- 
tion, till  they  come  to  share  the  full  glory  of  Him 
whom  they  follow.  We  may  comj)are  tliis  with  a 
similar  development  of  the  same  thouglit  by  Paul 
in  2  Cor.  viii.  9,  wdiere  he  says  of  Christ :  "  Though 
he  was  rich,  yet  for  our  sakes  he  became  poor." 
To  the  "being  rich"  corresponds  tlie  "  being  in  di- 
vine form,"  the  "  being  equal  with  God,"  in  the 
passage  before  us ;  to  the  "  becoming  poor,"  the 
self-renunciation  and  self-abasement  in  the  human 
servant-form,  in  its  full  extent  as  exhibited  above. 
In  the  passage  just  quoted,  this  is  used  as  an  ex- 
hortation to  tliat  benevolence  which  sacrifices  its 
own,  subjects  itself  to  privations,  in  order  to  re- 
lieve the  necessities  of  others.  It  is  based  on  the 
general  thought,  arising  from  a  contemplation  of 
the  life  of  Christ,  that  each  one  should  be  ready  to 

give  up  and  to  renounce  all  that  he  has  for  the 
5* 


106  PHILIPPIANS. 

* 

liigliest  good  of  others ;  the  beneficent  and  conde 
scending  spirit  of  self-denying  Christian  love,  which 
pervades  the  wliole  Christian  life  in  all  its  acts. 
And  in  this  general  form  is  the  thought  conceived 
in  the  passage  before  us.  It  is.  this  which  charac- 
terizes Paul  as  a  moral  teacher  ;  that  with  him  the 
specific  is  in  all  cases  carried  back  to  the  highest, 
deepest,  most  comprehensive  ;  that  his  special  ad- 
monitions, in  regard  to  the  Christian  life  and  char- 
acter, have  for  their  basis  the  general  fundamental 
ideas  of  the  whole  Christian  life,  all  centering  in 
the  example  of  Christ. 

The  church  at  Philippi  needed  the  Apostle's  ad- 
monitions and  warnings,  especially  in  reference  to 
the  obstacles  with  which  Christianity,  in  its  pro- 
cess of  development,  then  had  chiefly  to  contend. 
This  process  has  in  every  age  its  peculiar  obstacles 
to  overcome ;  and  it  would  be  easy  to  show  a  cer- 
tain affinity  between  these  oj^posing  influences,  al- 
though different  periods  give  rise  to  different 
forms.  But  here  an  important  distinction  is  to  be 
made.  There  may  be  spiritual  tendencies  and 
teachings,  which  come  into  direct  conflict  with  the 
peculiar  essence  of  Christianity ;  a  <jase  where  no 
reconciliation  is  possible,  but  the  choice  must  be 


rHlLIPPIANS.  107 

for  the  one  or  for  the  other ;  and  where  the  decis- 
ion for  the  pure  Christian  tendency,  must  manifest 
itself  in  firm  adherence  to  the  one  and  steadfast 
rejection  of  the  other.  Somewhat  different  is  it 
with  those  tendencies,  which  uni£e  with  the  sincei-e 
acknowledgment  of  Christian  truth  only  a  slight 
remaining  influence  of  former  views,  and  which 
form  in  their  successive  stages  the  gradual  transi- 
tion to  pure  Christian  truth.  This  is  especially 
true  of  the  obstacles,  with  which  Christianity  had 
then  to  contend  in  its  process  of  development.  As 
it  was  from  Judaism  the  transition  was  made  to 
Christianity,  so  did  the  first  important  obstacle  to 
its  process  of  development,  arise  from  the  intei- 
mixture  of  views  brought  from  the  Jewish  stand- 
point. It  is  to  these  views  that  the  distinclion 
above  stated  must  be  applied. 

Such  a  predominance  of  the  Jev/ish  spirit  did  ex- 
ist, through  which  the  consciousness  of  the  peculiar 
nature  of  Christianity  was  essentially  repressed  and 
stifled.  Jesus  was  indeed  outwardly  acknowledged 
as  the  Messiah ;  but  there  was  wanting  the  true 
import  and  power  of  such  a  conviction.  He  was 
made,  after  the  Jewish  conception,  a  carnal  Mes- 
siah with  carnal  hopes.     As  Christ,  after  the  mir- 


108  PHILIPPIANS. 

acle  of  the  loaves,  said  to  those  who  followed  him 
with  false  views  (John  vi.  26),  that  it  was  not  be- 
cause they  had  seen  the  miraculous  signs, — tokens 
of  the  manifestation  of  the  divine  in  the  world 
of  sense,  intended  to  point  to  a  nature  in  itself 
divine  made  known  through  these  tokens, — that 
not  for  these  did  they  seek  him,  but  because  they 
had  eaten  of  the  loaves  and  were  fdled,  that 
only  sensual  want  attached  them  to  him ;  so  in 
these  Jews  of  whom  we  are  now  speaking,  thei-e 
was  the  same  lack  of  the  divine  sense,  of  the  feel- 
ing of  higher,  inward,  spiritual  need.  With  them 
too  it  was  only  a  mere  sensual  want,  which  led 
them  to  believe  on  Jesus.  And  though  they  dif- 
fered from  the  Jews  to  whom  Christ  spoke  in  this 
respect,  that  they  were  not  led  by  this  similar 
fleshly  tendency  to  open  opposition  against  Jesus 
as  the  Messiah,  but  sought  on  the  contrary  to  be 
outwardly  united  to  him,  yet  no  important  advan- 
tage was  thus  gained.  For  while  the  former  would 
not  believe  on  a  Jesus,  who  did  not  satisfy  their 
physical  necessities ;  the  latter,  believing  in  Jesus 
as  the  Messiah,  yet  made  him  nearly  such  an  one 
as  those  had  desired,  and  such  as  Jesus  refused  to 
be.     With  this  one  article,  of  foith  in  Jesus  as  the 


PHiLirpiANs.  109 

Messiali  in  the  sense  Iiere  given,  they  united,  as  we 
have  already  seen,  a  strict  adherence  to  the  entire 
legal  position.  Not  Jesus  the  Messiah  was  to  them 
the  sole  ground  of  salvation ;  but  in  the  observance 
of  tlie  whole  Law,  and  in  circumcision,  they  sought 
for  righteousness  and  salvation.  'Not  the  righteous- 
ness which  comes  from  within,  from  foith,  was  the 
object  of  their  desire ;  but  a  righteousness  which 
comes  to  man  from  without. 

It  is  clear  that  where  an  opposition  of  this  kind 
existed,  there  could  be  no  agreement,  no  reconcil- 
iation. The  true  Christian  spirit  alone  could  make 
the  decision,  between  a  cai-nal  or  a  spiritual  Mes- 
siah ;  between  a  righteousness  grounded  on  faith 
in  the  Redeemer  alone,  or  in  the  Law  and  its 
works ;  between  the  transformation  effected  by  the 
divine  life,  working  from  within  the  reformation 
of  the  whole  man,  or  a  mere  external  chan<^e  in 
outward  conduct;  between  God's  work  or  man's 
work,  humble  acceptance  of  divine  gifts,  humble 
surrender  to  Jesus  as  the  Saviour,  or  a  carnal  Mes- 
siah with  the  admission  of  the  desert  of  one's  own 
works.  It  was  because  the  question  for  the  new 
churches  was  of  just  such  an  unconditional  opposi- 
tion, between  what  was  Chi-istian   and  what  was 


110  PHILIPPIANS. 

unchristian,  that  Paul  felt  himself  obliged  to  pre 
sent  the  case  so  strongly,  and  to  testify  so  earnestly 
against  those  erroneous  views.  "  Beware  of  dogs" 
(the  term  in  the  original  expressing  the  shameless 
effrontery  of  these  opposers  of  the  truth) ;  "  be- 
ware of  evil  workers"  (those  who  would  supplant 
the  Christian  by  the  Jewish  stand-point)  ;  "  be- 
ware of  the  concision."  But  how  is  it  that  Paul 
here  speaks  of  circumcision,  which  he  nevertheless 
regarded  as  a  divine  ordinance  for  a  specific  i)eriod, 
in  so  contemptuous  a  manner?  Circumcision  was 
in  his  estimation  a  divine  seal,  by  which  the  theo- 
cratic ])eople  were  separated,  as  the  divinely  con- 
secrated race,  from  the  nations  abandoned  to  idol- 
atry and  its  attendant  abominations,  for  the  pur- 
pose of  conducting  to  that  fellowship  witli  God 
which  should  one  day  embrace  all  humankind. 
To  him  it  was,  as  he  says  in  the  Epistle  to  tlie  Ro- 
mans, an  outward  symbol  of  the  new  relation  to 
God,  into  which  Abraham  entei'ed  by  virtue  of  his 
faith  (Rom.  iv.  11)  ;  and  emblematical  of  that  in- 
wai-d  spiritual  circumcision,  the  circumcision  of 
the  heart  in  the  spirit,  of  purification  from  the  ex- 
crescences of  sin,  which  alone  constitutes  a  true 
Deople  of  God,  through  which  alone  the  conception 


PHILIPPIANS.  Ill 

of  a  people  of  God  can  find  its  realization.  But 
if  now,  as  was  the  case  with  those  Judaizers,  jus- 
tification and  salvation  were  sought  in  this  out- 
ward circumcision,  as  such ;  if  indeed  to  faith  in 
Jesus  as  the  Messiah,  who  in  his  true  character 
was  the  author  of  all  righteousness,  circumcision 
was  to  be  added  as  something  higher,  as  the  real 
source  of  true  righteousness ;  then  was  Paul  bound 
to  expose,  in  the  most  emphatic  manner,  the  utter 
worthlessness  of  such  an  external  act  in  reference 
to  the  object  to  be  attained.  No  words  could 
seem  to  him  too  strong  to  represent  the  perverse- 
ness  of  such  a  view  as  this ;  which  could  ascribe 
that  to  the  external  and  sensuous,  which  can  only 
be  produced  from  within,  by  virtue  of  what  is 
wrought  within  upon  the  spirit,  through*  the  im- 
parting of  a  divine  life.  Hence  lie  calls  circum- 
cision, in  opposition  to  such  an  over-estimation  of 
it,  a  concision,  a  self-mutilation ;  and  in  the  Epistle 
to  the  Galatians,  with  a  similar  contemptuous  al- 
lusion to  the  abuse  of  this  abrogated  rite,  he  ex- 
pi'esses  the  wish  that  those  who  made  so  much 
account  of  circumcision  would  practise  it  to  what 
extent  they  pleased  on  themselves,  provided  they 
would  but  leave  other  Christians  in  peace.     Cer- 


112  PIIILIPPIANS. 

tainly  that  w]nc]i  sueiiis  to  I^uil  iis  something  so 
unchristian  and  perverse,  and  excites  in  him  so 
much  indignation,  must  have  i-eference  not  merely 
to  circumcision,  that  single  pecuharity  of  Judaisiu, 
but  to  everything  external  and  sensuous  regai(h;i! 
as  a  ground  of  justification,  of  sanctification,  of 
salvation;  for,  as  such,  it  stands  in  direct  oppo- 
sition to  that  worship  of  God  in  spirit  and  in 
truth,  which  springs  solely  from  the  inward  act  of 
faith.  This  contrariety  to  the  true  Christian  prin- 
ciple is  expressed  in  the  succeeding  words,  "  For 
we  are  the  circumcision."  That  is,  they  are  not 
the  truly  circumcised,  but  their  miscalled  cii'cnm- 
cision  is  a  mere  excision,  a  self-mutilatiou.  AYe 
are  those  who  really  deserve  this  name  ;  we  Chris- 
tians are  the  truly  circumcised  ;  "  we,"  he  adds  in 
proof  of  the  assertion,  "  who  sei-ve  God  in  the 
spirit,  and  glory  in  Christ  Jesus,  and  have  no  con- 
fidence in  the  flesh."  We  must  endeavor  to  de- 
velop the  meaning  of  these  weighty  words.  "To 
serve  God  in  the  spirit,"  forms  the  direct  opposito 
to  a  worship  of  God  connected  with  sensible,  ex- 
ternal, earthly  things,  and  dependent  thereon ;  a 
worship  which  has  not  its  spring  in  the  spirit 
within ;  as  when  one  supposes  that  lie  can  honor 


PHILIPPIANS.  113 

God  by  receiving  circumcision  or  by  any  external 
legal  works,  be  they  religious  or  moral,  by  any 
single  acts  whatever  of  external  worship. 

The  true  worship  of  God,  on  the  contrary,  Paul 
describes  as  one  which  proceeds  from  the  spirit ; 
meaning  by  this  only  such  as  can  proceed  from  the 
renewing  and  sanctifying  of  tlie  human  spirit,  by 
nature  estranged  from  God,  through  the  Holy 
Spirit  which  Christ  alone  imparts.  Only  thus  can 
the  spirit  of  man,  being  led  back  to  fellowship 
with  God  and  made  a  temple  of  God,  become  the 
sanctuary  where  God  is  worsliijiped  aright ;  and 
then  the  whole  life  and  conduct  of  the  spirit  is 
one  act  of  divine  worship.  But  as  the  redemption 
attained  through  Christ  is  here  presupposed,  as 
faith  in  the  Redeemer  and  fellowship  with  him  is 
the  root  and  fountain  of  all,  Paul  therefore  con- 
nects therewith  the  "  glorying  in  the  Lord ;"  i.  e. 
glorying  in  such  a  manner  as  excludes  all  pride  of 
human  glory;  a  glorying  in  self-abasement;  a 
glorying,  to  wit,  only  in  Chi'ist  and  in  that  which 
we  are  in  him,  which  has  its  ground  in  him,  for 
which  w^e  are  indebted  to  Mm,  and  hence  (what 
is  but  the  counterpart  of  this)  not  placing  our 
confidence  in  anything  human.     Paul  presents  his 


114  PHILIPPIANS. 

own  case  as  an  example  in  this  respect  to  Iiis  Phi- 
lippian  brethren, — a  proof  of  the  sincerity  of  his 
teachings  and  admonitions.  He  appeals  to  the 
fact  that  he  himself,  as  a  born  Jew  brought  up  in 
the  strictest  Pharisaism,  had  lived  in  the  exactest 
observance  of  the  Law  and  yet  had  become  con- 
vinced that  all  this  could  contribute  nothing  to- 
wards his  cleansing  from  sin,  his  justification, 
sanctification  and  salvation ;  on  which  account  he 
had  renounced  all  this,  in  order  to  find  all  in 
Christ  alone.  He  says  that  as  respects  the  right- 
eousness of  the  Law,  he  was  blameless.  This  is 
said  not  merely  of  the  requirements  of  the  cere-* 
monial  law,  but  also  of  moral  action  so  far  as  it 
meets  the  eye  of  man ;  both  being  comprehended 
under  the  term  law.  In  all  this  Paul  had  been 
blameless.  In  the  sight  of  men  he  was  without 
blemish.  What  he  says  applies  not  less  to  what 
is  called  rectitude  among  men,  than  to  a  piety 
which  consists  in  j>articular  religious  acts.  Al- 
though Paul  satisfied  the  claims  which  men  could 
rightfully  make  on  him,  yet  it  availed  him  nothing. 
When,  through  the  light  of  the  Spirit,  the  true 
nature  of  the  divine  law  and  true  self-knowledge 
dawned  upon  his  mind,  he  seemed  to  himself,  with 


PHILIPPIANS.  115 

all  tills  blamelessness  before  men,  not  less  a  sinner 
on  tliat  account,  wanting  that  true  divine  right- 
eousness in  which  all  flows  out  from  God,  and  all 
has  reference  to  Him.  He  is  the  true  end  and 
aim  of  the  whole  life ;  while  all  that  men  call  rec- 
titude does  not  rise  above  the  world.  Hence  he 
says,  implying  the  insufficiency  of  all  this :  "  But 
what  things  were  gain  to  me,  those  I  counted  loss 
for  Christ.  Yea,  and  I  count  all  thino^s  but  loss 
for  the  excellency  of  the  knowledge  of  Christ 
Jesus  my  Lord  :  for  whom  I  have  suffered  the  loss 
of  all  things,  and  do  count  them  but  dregs  that  I 
may  win  Christ."  He  would  say  here,  that  every- 
thing which  formerly  was  in  his  view  a  distinc- 
tion,— as  descent  from  the  theocratic  nation,  legal 
piety,  blamelessness  in  a  legal  view, — all  this  now 
appears  to  him  a  disadvantage,  so  far  as  he  should 
rest  his  confidence  thereon  and  be  thereby  drawn 
away  from  Christ.  Christ  having  now  become  all 
to  him,  all  else  must  give  place  to  Christ.  All  else, 
high  as  it  may  be  in  itself,  must  appear  loss  if  it 
occasion  the  loss  of  Christ,  whom  none  can  gain  but 
those  who  seek  and  desire  Him  alone ;  for  that  very 
knowledge  of  Christ,  itself  sufficing  for  all,  in  itself 
comprehending  all,  outshines  and  eclipses  all  beside. 


116  PHILIPPIANS. 

And  lience  Paul  says,  that  for  the  sake  of  Christ  he 
lias  willingly  suiFered  the  loss  of  all ;  that  lie  cast:^ 
all  else  away  as  worthless  in  order  that  he  may  win 
Christ,  who  supplies  to  Mni  the  place  of  all.  It  is 
his  whole  concern  to  be  found  in  Christ,""''  to  stand 
in  fellowship  with  Lim.  And  he  tlius  contrasts 
that  divine  righteousness,  founded  in  this  relation 
and  proceeding  fi*om  inward  faitli,  with  a  I'ight- 
eousness  w^liich  comes  from  without,  proceeding 
from  tlie  works  of  tlie  law,  a  merely  human  at- 
tainment secured  by  human  efforts.  In  his  view, 
all  here  depends  on  knowing  Cheist.  This 
knowledge  is,  in  the  Pauline  sense,  not  something 
merely  intellectual,  not  a  mere  matter  of  specula- 
tion, not  certain  specific  articles  of  faith  respecting 
Christ  as  they  are  speculatively  developed  and 
handed  down ;  but,  on  the  contrary,  as  shown  in 
the  following  words,  it  is  a  knowledge  which  takes 
root  in  the  life,  a  matter  of  personal  experience, 
the  believer's  inward  perception  of  Christ  as  the 
Son  of  God  and  his  Eedeemer.  Paul  then  brings 
forward  into  special  prominence  the  power  of  his 
resurrection,  which  of  course  presupposes  the  an- 
nouncement of  him  as  the  Crucified,  his  sufferings 

*  Verse  9-. 


PHILiriMANS.  117 

for  the  redemptioa  of  man  from  sin.  This  prom- 
inence lie  gives  to  the  power  of  Christ's  resurrec- 
tion, as  being  the  factual  proof  of  the  redemption 
ciffected  by  him; — as  furnishing  the  evidence,  in  a 
-•lorified  personality,  of  that  imperishable  divine 
liie  imparted  to  humanity,  Ijy  virtue  of  the  re- 
demption from  sin  and  consequent  death;  a  life 
})assing  over  from  him  to  all  who  through  faith 
stand  in  fellowship  with  him, — the  beginning  in 
them  of  a  new  divine  life,  to  penetrate  more  and 
more  their  entire  being,  till  they  shall  become 
wholly  assimilated  to  it  in  soul  and  body.  And 
hence  he  adds,  "to  know  the  fellowship  of  his  suf- 
ferinofs ;" — that  is,  how  we  are  to  follow  him  in 
sufferings,  in  order  that  we  may  more  and  more 
become  partakers  of  the  divine  life  in  fellowship 
with  the  Risen  One.  He  then  sums  up  all  in  this, 
"to  be  made  like  unto  him  in  his  death;"  to  apply 
to  one's  self  tlie  image  of  his  death,  in  order  to 
attain  to  the  fellowship  of  his  resurrection.  We 
must  here  refer  back  to  what  we  have  alread}"  said 
on  this  point,  in  another  connection.*  Thus  we 
have  here,  in  one  vieAV,  all  \^'hich  pertains  to  the 
Christian  life,  all  which  constitutes  the  righteous- 

*  See  p.  90, 


118  PHILIPPIAXS 

ness  of  the  Cliristiaii,  in  opposition  to  the  require- 
ments of  legal  piety  or  mere  human  rectitude. 

The  same  class  of  persons  is  probably  meant 
when,  in  a  subsequent  passage,*  after  having  pro- 
posed his  own  conduct  as  an  example  to  the  Phi- 
lippians,  he  warns  them  with  deep  sorrow  against 
many  who  w^alk  far  otherwise,  and  whom  he  desig- 
nates as  enemies  of  the  cross  of  Christ.  Here, 
however,  the  reference  to  this  class  of  persons 
cannot  be  proved  with  equal  certainty.  The 
words  "  enemies  of  the  cross  of  Christ"  may  be 
applied  to  many  classes  of  persons.  They  may  be 
understood  of  such  as,  indee<l,  acknowledge  Jesus 
the  Crucified  as  their  Saviour ;  but  who  still  show 
by  their  manner  of  thinking  and  acting,  even 
though  themselves  unconscious  of  it,  that  they  are 
enemies  of  the  cross  of  Christ.  It  might  be  of 
such  as  take  their  stand,  consciously,  as  open  ene- 
mies of  the  cross  of  Christ.  This  might  at  that 
period  proceed  from  two  different  points  of  view, 
which  indeed  are  found  recurring  in  eveiy  age ; 
viz.  from  the  position  of  the  wisdom-seeking 
Greeks,  of  whom  Paul  says  that  Jesus  the  Crucified 
was  to  them  foolishness,  and  from  that  of  the  sign- 

*  Verse  18. 


PHILIPPIANS.  119 

seeking  Jews,  of  whom  he  says  that  to  them  Jesus 
the  Crucified  was  an  offence.  It  may  he  the  un- 
belief which  comes  from  the  pride  of  wisdom, 
from  the  pride  of  reason,  from  the  pride  of  culture, 
or  the  unbelief  of  the  earthly  sensual  man.  But 
this  open  and  conscious  opposition  cannot,  as  ap- 
pears from  the  connection,  be  the  one  here  meant. 
It  is  inconsistent  -with  the  manner  in  which  Paul 
contrasts  these  enemies  of  the  cross  of  Christ  with 
himself  Against  such  open  opposei's  it  was  not 
necessary  thus  to  "warn  his  brethren.  The  class 
first  mentioned  must  therefore  be  the  one  intend- 
ed. Still  the  words  admit  of  several  applications. 
This  not  open  but  rather  unconscious  enmity  to 
the  cross  of  Christ,  may  be  conceived  as  taking 
either  a  practical  or  more  theoretical  form ;  as 
manifesting  itself  only  in  action,  or  in  doctrine  as 
well  as  in  action.  As  respects  the  first,  this  again 
may  be  understood  in  a  two-fold  manner.  It  may 
mean  such  as  are  wanting  in  that  humility,  which 
must  spring  from  the  belief  that  we  ow^e  all  to  the 
cross  of  Christ,  to  Jesus  who  was  crucified  for  us ; 
m  whose  life  the  conceit  of  self-righteousness,  by 
which  the  cross  of  Christ  is  disowned  and  disal- 
*  lowed,   predominates  even  though  this  may  not 


120  THILIPPIANS. 

betray  itself  in  the  doctrines  wliicli  tliey  preach. 
But  it  .may  also  mean  those  who  ai'e  far  fi'om 
taking  upon  them  their  cross,  and  thus  following 
Jesus  the  Crucified;  whose  life,  still  devoted  to 
flesh  and  sin,  stands  in  direct  contradiction  with  the 
cross  of  Christ,  with  faith  in  that  Jesus  who  for 
this  cause  was  crucified  that  he  might  free  human- 
ity from  sin,  so  that  all  who  attach  themselves  to 
him  should  now  be  crucified  to  sin,  to  the  world, 
to  themselves.  The  whole  carnal,  sinful  life  of 
such  persons,  who,  as  far  as  in  them  lay,  made  void 
the  very  object  for  which  Jesus  was  crucified, 
might  be  called  enmity  to  the  cross  of  Christ.  We 
grant  that  Avhat  follows  might  also  be  understood, 
as  directed  against  men  of  this  carnal  course  of 
life.  Still  we  are  led  by  the  connection,  when 
compared  Avitli  the  preceding  context,  to  refer  it 
rather  to  an  opposition  manifesting  itself  in  tlie 
doctrines  taught  as  well  as  in  the  life,  to  that  very 
class  of  Judaizing  adversaries  indeed,  against 
whom  Paul  has  previously  spoken.  These  he  calls 
enemies  of  tlic  cross  of  Christ,  because  their  stand- 
point is  one  to  which  Christ  the  Crucified  is  an  of- 
fence, a  stone  of  stuml)ling — though  in  them  this 
manifests  itself  not  openly   and  consciously,  but 


PHILIPPIANS.  121 

rather  in  an  unconscious  and  covert  manner ;  be- 
cause nothing  was  more  offensive  to  them  than 
that  preaching  which  required  them  to  ascri'oe 
salvation  to  the  Crucified  Jesus  alone  as  their  Sa- 
vioLii', — to  ascribe  all  to  Him  alone  ;  because  they 
l]eld  to  a  legal  self-righteousness  in  opposition  to 
the  cross  of  Christ.  It  follows  from  what  has  al- 
ready been  said,  that  the  views  and  conduct  of 
such  persons  were  in  direct  contrast  to  the  wor- 
ship of  God  in  the  spirit ;  their  religious  service 
consisting  only  in  external  things,  their  tendency 
being  wholly  to  the  earthly  and  sensual.  Sucli  a 
religion  brought  with  it  no  moral  transformation, 
might  co-exist  with  sin,  nay,  might  form  a  union 
with  it,  giving  to  the  service  of  sin  a  false  secu- 
rity ;  as  often,  in  the  history  of  Christianity,  we 
have  seen  these  same  tendencies  gain  a  footing 
under  cover  of  its  name.  He  describes  them  as 
those  whose  god  is  their  belly,  those  Avho  in  all 
things  act  merely  from  earthly  impulses,  to  satisfy 
their  sensual  wants ;  a  reproach  which  Paul  often 
casts  upon  the  judaizing  proselytists,  that  they 
turned  their  preaching  into  a  means  of  gain,  seek- 
ing to  extort  by  it  what  might  serve  for  their  own 
advantage.    He  describes  them  as  earthly-minded, 


122  PHILIPPIANS. 

wliicli  is  explained  by  the  foregoing  ;  and  all  their 
hopes  were  such  as  corresponded  to  this  earthly- 
disposition.  They  expected  in  the  future  world, 
as  they  did  in  the  thousand  years'  reign  promised 
by  til  em,  not  that  divine  life  of  which  the  true 
Christian  even  here  partakes  under  the  veil  of  the 
eartlily ;  but,  on  the  contrary,  they  dreamed  of  an 
increased  enjoyment  of  mere  earthly  pleasures. 
"  Whose  glory,"  he  says,  "  is  in  their  shame,"  i.  e. 
who  seek  their  honor  in  that  which  redounds 
rather  to  their  shame;  as  indeed  everything, 
which  might  seem  to  distinguish  them  above 
others,  was  in  fact  a  derogation  of  the  Christian 
life,  a  renunciation  of  true  Christian  excellence. 

In  contrast  with  these,  Paul  now  presents  the 
wholly  heavenward  mind  of  the  genuine  Chris- 
tian, his  wholly  heavenward  hope  purified  from 
every  stain  of  sense.  This  divine  life,  already 
freed  from  earth,  forms  in  its  aim  and  tendency 
the  opposite  of  that  world-ensnared  religiosity, 
cleaving  wholly  to  the  earthly.  This  earthly 
mind,  Paul  would  say,  must  be  fai-  from  us  who 
are  Christians;  "for  our  conversation  is  in 
Heaven."  His  meaning  is,  that  Christians,  .s  to 
their  life,  their  walk,  belong  even  now  to  H  javen ; 


PHILIPPIANS.  123 

in  the  whole  direction  of  their  life  existing  there 
already.  This  he  deduces  fi-om  their  relation  to 
Christ,  their  fellowship  with  him  to  whom  they  are 
inseparably  united,  so  that  where  he  is  there  are 
they  also.  While  here,  they  are  sustained  by  the 
consciousness  that  Christ  now  lives  in  Heaven, 
manifested  to  believ^ers,  though  hidden  from  the 
world.  Thither  is  their  gaze  directed,  as  their  long- 
ings rise  towards  a  Saviour,  who  will  come  again 
from  thence  to  make  them  wholly  like  himself,  to 
fashion  them  wholly  after  his  own  glorious  pat- 
tern, to  transform  them  wholly  into  the  heavenly. 
Hence  Paul  says :  "  From  whence  also  we  look  for 
the  Saviour,  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ ;  who  shall 
change  our  vile  body,  that  it  may  be  fashioned  like 
unto  his  glorious  body,  according  to  the  working 
whereby  he  is  able  even  to  subdue  all  things  unto 
himself."  There  is  not  presented  here  a  resurrec- 
tion, as  a  restoration  merely  of  the  same  earthly 
body  in  the  same  earthly  form ;  but,  on  the  contrary, 
a  glorious  transformation,  proceeding  from  the 
divine,  the  all-subduing  power  of  Christ ;  so  that 
Ijelievers,  free  from  all  the  defects  of  the  earthly  ex- 
istence, released  from  all  its  barriers,  may  reflect  the 
full  image  of  the  heavenly  Christ  in  their  whole  glo' 


124  PHILIPPIANS. 

rifiecl  personality,  in  the  soul  pervaded  by  tlie  di- 
vine life  and  its  now  j^erfectly  assimilated  glorified 
organ.  This  heavenly  form  of  the  Christian  hope, 
the  fruit  of  faith  in  the  risen  and  ascended  Jesus, 
stands  opposed  not  only  to  that  comfortless  unbe- 
lief, which  makes  man  a  perishable  creature  like 
to  the  brutes,  and  cuts  off  all  hope  of  what  is  be- 
yond the  earth;  but  also,  as  intended  in  this 
passage,  to  that  mere  carnal  hope  which  transfei's 
the  forms  of  earthly  existence  into  the  future  life. 
Both  are  scions  from  one  root,  the  tendency  of  the 
natural  man ;  who,  whether  in  the  form  of  sensual 
grossness  or  of  refined  culture,  can  never  escape 
beyond  the  narrow  limits  of  time  and  sense  ;  wlio 
has  no  organ  whereby  to  perceive  and  compre- 
hend the  divine  and  heavenly.  It  matters  not, 
therefore,  in  Avhicli  of  these  two  forms  this  ten- 
dency of  the  natural  man  develops  itself;  whether 
it  entirely  denies  and  rejects  what  it  cannot  per- 
ceive and  comprehend,  denies  all  personal  duration 
beyond  the  earthly  state,  because  able  itself  to 
conceive  nothing  beyond  this  earthly  form  of  per- 
sonality ;  or  v/hether  it  degrades  to  its  own  sen- 
sual standard  what  it  is  either  unable  or  indispos- 
ed to  deny,  and  wholly  carnalizes  the  hope  which 


PHILIPPIANS.  125 

it  does  not  reject.  In  every  form  of  superstition 
there  is  something  of  unbelief,  since  tliat  upward 
impulse  of  the  sj)'n'it  is  wanting  by  which  alone  it 
i.s  possible  to  rise  to  the  superhuman  and  divine  ; 
hence  the  divine,  as  such,  is  in  reality  denied  and 
tlie  earthly  set  in  its  place.  And  in  all  the  forms 
of  unbelief  there  is  something  of  superstition. 
Every  form  of  unbelief  has  its  idols.  It  seeks  in 
the  powers  and  outward  phenomena  of  the  world, 
what  can  only  be  found  in  God  and  in  powers 
which  are  of  God.  What  Paul  says  of  the  idol- 
izing of  worldly  objects  is  true  also  of  this,  that 
it  makes  itself  subject  to  the  elements  of  the 
v/orld.  It  clings  with  all  the  greater  force  to  the 
earthly,  because  it  is  an  utter  stranger  to  all  which 
can  give  true  satisfaction  to  the  spirit  formed  in 
the  image  of  God.  It  strives  all  the  more  eagerly 
for  earthly  interests,  because  it  has  renounced  the 
higher  interests  pertaining  to  the  spirit,  which  are 
connected  with  its  true  home;  and  hence  the 
earthly  interest  has  swallowed  up  all  other  love, 
and  all  other  desire,  by  which  the  God-related 
spirit  is  impelled.  Christ,  risen  from  the  dead  and 
ascended  to  heaven,  whose  life  is  fiid  in  God  and 
with  whom  in  God  our  life  is  hidden   (Gol.  iii.  3), 


126  PHILIPPIANS. 

to  whom  as  our  life  we  slmll  he  like  in  glory  when 
He,  now  hidden  from  the  world,  shall  reveal  him- 
self in  glory, — this,  the  loeliever's  hope,  stands  in 
contrast  with  both  these  tendencies  of  the  natu- 
ral man. 

We  have  spoken  of  the  judaistic  tendency  ex- 
isting at  this  stage  of  the  development  of  Christi- 
anity, so  far  as  this  stood  directly  opposed  to  the 
pure  Gospel  and  excluded  all  reconciliation.  But 
there  were  also  in  the  churches,  such  as  were  in  a 
process  of  progressive  development  from  Judaism, 
or  some  kindred  stand-point,  to  the  pure  Gospel. 
These,  far  from  being  enemies  of  the  ci'oss  of 
Christ,  were  filled  with  love  to  the  Crucified  Jesus 
as  their  Saviour;  but  they  were  still  sulgect  to 
many  weaknesses  in  their  faith,  not  being  al-le  to 
release  themselves  as  yet  from  much  which  still 
clung  to  them  of  their  former,  not  wholh^  extir- 
pated Jewish  views.  Such  persons,  whom  Paul  is 
accustomed  to  contrast  as  "thew^eak"  with  the 
strong  mature  Christian,  are  often  mentioneil  iu 
his  Epistles ;  those  who  still  had  scrupulous  fe.-ii's 
about  partaking  of  meats  ofi*ered  to  idols,. and  udio, 
in  regard  to  food  and  to  the  observance  of  certain 
days  as  holy,  were  still  in  bondage  to  the  Jewish 


PHILIPPIANS.  127 

ritual.  In  these  points  tliey  were  unable  to  break 
loose  at  once  from  the  yoke  of  Judaism.  But  did 
these  persons  then  stand  in  the  same  relation  as 
tliose  first-mentioned  I  Should  such  as  had  come 
over  to  Christianity  from  another  stand-point,  the 
j>>tgan;  and  who,  though  exposed  to  other  dan- 
iifeis,  could  from  that  point  make  their  w'ay  more 
easily  to  Christian  freedom;  or  such  as  had  ad- 
vanced farther  in  the  development  of  faith,  had 
more  nearly  reached  the  maturity  of  manhood  in 
Christ;  should  such  withdraw  fellowship  from,  and 
hai'shly  repel  these  weaker,  in  many  points  less 
enlightened  brethren?  This  would  have  been 
contrary  to  what  Paul  requires  of  Christian  love, 
which  bears  patiently  the  infirmities  of  brethren. 
It  would  be  to  set  bounds  with  impatient  pre- 
sumption to  the  operations  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  who 
is  able  to  lead  on  farther  and  farther  those  in 
whom  He  has  begun  to  work ;  to  sever  at  once 
the  thread  of  development  ordained  by  the  wis- 
dom of  God,  and  alone  conducting  to  Christ  as 
from  him  it  proceeded.  How  we  are  to  regard 
and  treat  these  subordinate  stages  of  develop- 
ment, these  minor  differences,  is  taught  by  Paul 
in  this  epistle, — in  few  words  indeed,  but  full  of 


128  PHILIPPIA^^S. 

instruction.     We  must  now  endeavor  to  obtain  a 
clear  conception  of  their  import. 

After  having,  in  a  passage  ah'eady  explained, 
presented  as  the  standard  for  all,  that  stage  of 
Christian  attainment  which  forgets  everything 
hitherto  accomplished;  which,  beginning  with 
Christian  faith,  in  entire  devotedness  to  Christ 
strives  ever  towards  the  mark  of  the  heavenly 
calling ;  he  adds,  "  As  many  of  us  now  as  are  per- 
fect, let  us  be  thus  minded."  This  is  the  stage  of 
the  mature  believer  who  has  attained  to  full  Chris- 
tian freedom,  who  presses  forward  without  hin- 
drance in  an  ever-progressive  development.  "And 
if  in  anything  ye  are  otherwise  minded," — other- 
wise, i.  e.  not  in  harmony  with  this  ]>rinci2)le, — 
"  God  will  reveal  also  this  unto  you ;"  will  also  in 
that,  wherein  ye  still  think  otherwise,  reveal  to 
you  the  right,  and  thus  lead  you  to  unity  in  ad- 
herence to  this  principle  and  in  its  application. 
Paul  refers  therefore  to  the  great  truth,  that  the 
Spirit  of  God  which  has  revealed  to  them  the  light 
of  the  Gospel,  will  also  carry  on  and  complete  this 
his  revelation  in  them,  even  to  that  point  of  Chris- 
tian maturity ;  that  He  will  continually  advance 
them  in  Christian  knowledge ;  and  where  they  are 


PHILIPPIAN-S.  129 

Still  in  error  and  divided  in  opinion,  there  too  will 
He  yet  make  known  to  them  the  one  true  way. 
They  should  therefore  not  contend  with  overhasty 
zeal;    as  by  this  course  one  is  easily  estranged 
more  and  more  widely  from  another,  easily  har- 
dened in  opposing  views  through  obstinate    adhe- 
rence to  what  has  been  once  adopted.     Still  less 
should  they  mutually  condemn  one  another,  but 
rather  seek  to  preserve  that  unity  of  the  Christian 
spirit  which  is  above  all  these  minor  differences; 
while  all  submitting  to  the  common  guide,  the 
Holy  Spirit,  should  entrust  themselves  and  one 
another  mutually  to  Him,  the  best  Teacher,  to  be 
led  on  continually  under  his  guidance.     As  this 
work  has  in  all  the  same  divinely  laid  foundation, 
^o  should  the  iiirtber  development  and  the  pro- 
gressive purification  of  the  divine  work  in  each, 
be  left  to  the  operation  of  the  Holy  Sj^irit  by 
whom  it  is  first  begun  in  each.     There  should  be 
no  attempt  to  do  violence,  by  any  external  influ- 
ence,  to    the  peculiar  development   of   another, 
which  must  follow  its  own  laws  grounded  in  his 
peculiar  personality;    or  to  substitute  something 
forced  on  him  from  without,  for  the  free  develop- 
ment proceeding  from  within.      This   would   be 
6* 


130  PIIILIPPIANS. 

nothing  else  than  attempting,  by  human  arts  of 
persuasion,  (which  yet  have  no  power  to  penetrate 
to  the  inmost  spirit,  unless  they  find  a  point  of 
connection  in  the  existing  attainments  of  the  indi- 
vidual man)  to  accomplish  that  which  can  be 
wrought  only  by  the  Holy  Spirit,  that  inward 
Teacher,  whom  all  follow  without  constraint  and 
in  perfect  harmony  w^ith  their  own  freedom.  It  is 
only  the  action  of  the  same  leaven  of  divine  truth, 
that  can  produce  the  same  results  in  all ;  of  that 
leaven  which  by  degrees  shall  penetrate  the  whole 
spiritual  life,  purifying  it  from  every  foreign  ele- 
ment. And  if  there  is  reference  here  to  a  reve- 
lation by  the  Holy  Spirit,  through  which  the 
believer  is  advanced  in  knowledge,  it  is  based  on 
the  truth  everywhere  expressed  or  pre-supposed 
in  the  Holy  Scriptures,  that  all  divine  things  can 
become  known  only  in  the  light  of  the  Holy 
Spirit :  as  Paul  elsewhere  says,  "  No  man  can  say 
that  Jesus  is  the  Lord,  but  by  the  Holy  Ghost." 
But  the  idea  of  revelation  in  this  passage  nowise 
excludes  the  activity  of  human  thought,  which 
still  farther  develops  and  works  out,  according  to 
the  laws  of  human  reason,  what  has  been  received 
by  divine  illumination.  This  activity  of  the  human 


PHILIPPlANh.  131 

spirit  is,  however,  pre-supposed  to  be  one  animated 
and  guided  by  tlie  Holy  Spirit,  who  is  the  vital 
principle  in  the  whole  spiritual  life ;  and  hence  ail 
is  here  referred  back  to  the  Holy  Spirit  as  the 
primary  source,  inasmuch  as  all  is  here  the  fruit  of 
its  illuminating,  guiding  and  quickening  influence ; 
and  all  progressive  Christian  insight,  whether  im- 
mediately or  mediately  proceeding  from  the  Holy 
Spirit,  is  comprehended  in  the  idea  of  revelation. 

We  must  nov/  more  particularly  consider  that 
which  Paul  makes  the  necessary  condition  of  this 
result,  viz.  that  all  should  yield  themselves  to  the 
guidance  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  and  thus  be  led  on 
by  him  in  progressive  Christian  knowledge.  But 
here  it  is  necessary  to  inquire  into  the  original 
form  of  Paul's  words.  The  passage  has  been  cor- 
rupted, by  introducing  into  the  text  marginal  ex- 
planations erroneously  supposed  to  be  the  words 
of  Paul.  Divine  Wisdom  has  not  seen  fit  to  guard 
against  such  corruptions  in  the  course  of  ages,  by 
a  series  of  miracles,  or  by  the  authority  of  a 
visible  church  enjoying  infallible  guidance.  But 
while  free  course  was  here  given  to  natural  causes, 
and  thus  such  corruptions  might  occur  through 
misapprehension,  this  was  to  become  the  stimu- 


132  PHILIPPIANS. 

lus  to  an  independent  spirit  of  inquiry,  and  to 
the  cultivation  also  of  all  those  mental  faculties 
whereby  we  test  and  discriminate.  By  such  ex- 
ercise, under  the  guidance  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  by 
the  culture  and  application  of  that  capacity  to 
which  we  give  the  name  of  criticism,  and  which  is 
one  of  the  natural  endowments  of  the  human 
mind,  we  were  to  learn  to  distinguish  the  true 
from  the  false,  and  by  comparison  to  ascertain  the 
original  form  of  the  Apostolic  words.  Even  crit- 
icism, under  the  guiding  and  quickening  influence 
of  the  Holy  Spirit,  belongs  to  the  spiritual  gifts 
of  the  church.  By  it  we  shall  be  able  here  to 
restore  the  true  form  of  Paul's  words ;  as  by  con- 
tinued investigations,  under  the  guidance  of  the 
Holy  Spirit,  a  harmony  of  views  in  this  respect 
may  at  length  be  attained  throughout  the  church. 
If  like  Luther  we  follow  the  later  reading,  we 
shall  translate  with  him, — "  At  least  so  far  as  we 
walk  after  one  rule  whereto  we  have  attained,  and 
are  like-minded."  According  to  this,  unity  is  here 
pointed  out  as  that  condition  of  which  we  have 
just  spoken ;  it  is  an  exhortation  to  unity.  Such 
a  thought,  however,  is  quite  remote  from  this 
connection.    Unity  is  not  the  condition  which  the 


PHILIPPIANS.  133 

connection  would  lead  us  to  expect ;  but,  on  the 
contrary,  is  that  wMcli  results  from  tlie  course  of 
conduct  required  of  the  church  by  Paul.  When 
all  conduct,  in  reference  to  minor  differences,  as 
Paul  according  to  our  explanation  has  directed, 
unity  will  be  maintained  unimpaired  in  the  church 
Moreover,  what  is  said  of  "  the  one  rule"  and  of 
"the  walking  together  in  accordance  therewith," 
of  "  being  like-minded,"  does  not  suit  well  with 
the  words  "  whereto  we  have  attained."  All  had 
not  as  yet  attained  to  the  same  grade  of  s])iritual 
discernment.  We  find  here,  therefore,  a  combina- 
tion of  words  unsuited  to  each  other;  and  it  is 
easy  to  perceive,  how  from  false  glosses  appended 
in  explanation  of  the  obscure  words  (obscure  when 
not  rightly  apprehended  in  their  connection)  "  if 
we  do  but  walk  after  that  whereto  we  have 
attained"  falsely  regarded  as  an  exhortation  to 
unity,  all  the  rest  may  have  originated.  We  shall, 
therefore,  following  the  oldest  manuscripts  that 
have  come  down  to  us,  regard  these  as  the  genuine 
words  of  Paul :  "  if  we  but  walk  according  to  that 
whereunto  we  have  attained;"  i.  e.  if  each  one 
but  faithfully  applies  to  his  own  life  the  measure 
of  sj)iritual  discernment  bestowed  upon  him.    This 


134  PHILTPPIANS. 

tlien  is  Paul's  meaning :  the  Holy  Spirit  will  re- 
veal to  all  whatever  is  still  wanting  to  tliem  in  true 
Christian  knowledge,  and  thus  continually  pro- 
mote the  union  of  their  spirits,  by  purging  away 
whatever  foreign  elements  may  still  impair  it ;  vv'ill 
from  still  existing  differences  develop  a  higher 
unity,  if  first  of  all  that  Christian  fellowship,  which 
rests  upon  the  one  common  ground  of  faith,  is 
firmly  adhered  to,  and  each  one  is  careful  to  put 
in  practice  with  strict  fidelity  his  own  measure 
of  Christian  knowledge,  without  contending  with 
others  about  matters  wherein  they  differ  "from 
himself  All  progressive  revelation  of  the  Spirit, 
all  new  light  of  which  man  is  made  partaker,  pre- 
supposes a  faithful  application  of  what  has  j^revi- 
ously  been  given.  Here  too  apply  the  words  of 
the  Lord,  "  He  that  hath,  to  him  shall  be  given." 
How  many  schisms  might  have  been  avoided  in 
the  church,  how  many  differences  might,  much  for 
its  interest,  have  been  overcome  and  adjusted,  if 
all  had  felt  the  obligation  rightly  to  understand 
and  apply  the  principle  here  laid  down  by  Paul ! 
In  Paul's  Ej)istles,  as  everywhere  in  the  Holy 
Scriptures,  precepts,  exhortations,  and  promises  go 
hand  in  hand.     This  must  be  so,  from  the  peculiar 


PHILIPPIANS.  135 

nature  of  the  Gospel  as  distiiiguislied  from  the 
Law.  For  as  all  promises  are  connected  with 
some  condition  without  which  they  cannot  be  ful- 
filled, and  this  leads  to  precepts  and  admonitions : 
so  would  these  be  of  no  avail  were  not  the 
promise  to  the  believer  presupposed,  that  prom- 
ise which  ensures  the  power  to  fulfil  what  is 
required  of  him.  Thus  Paul  begins  with  the 
words,  "  Kejoice  in  the  Lord  always;  and  again  I 
say  rejoice."  He,  the  prisoner  of  the  Lord,  look- 
ing it  may  be  to  a  near  approaching  death,  finds 
reason  to  promise  and  to  require  an  ever-abiding 
joy  in  the  consciousness  of  fellowship  Avith  the 
Lord ;  to  make  joy  indeed  the  ground-tone  of  the 
Christian  life,  to  make  the  whole  Christian  life  a 
jubilee  of  redemption.  But  with  this  connects 
itself  the  requisition  for  a  Christian  walk ;  since 
that  joy  in  the  Lord  cannot  exist,  if  the  life  of 
the  Christian  does  not  correspond  to  the  law  of 
the  Lord,  does  not  testify  of  fellowship  with  him. 
And  since  the  Philippians,  as  we  have  already 
seen,*  were  placed  in  cii-cumstances  in  which  they 
might  most  easily  be  tempted  to  anger  and  retali- 
ation, if  the  natural  man  wei-e  not  held  in  check 


136  PHrLiri'iANS. 

by  a  higher  power,  Paul  esj^ecially  urges  the  ad- 
monition, "  Let  your  moderation  be  known  unto 
all  men;"  and  adds,  "The  Lord  is  at  hand,"  ap- 
pealing to  the  consciousness  that  He  is  ever  near  * 
This  consciousness  furnishes  the  motive  to  such 
gentleness  under  provocation.  They  walk  in  the 
sight  of  the  Lord,  and  dare  not  give  way  to  pas- 
sion in  the  near  presence  of  Him,  who  endured 
every  wrong  with  heavenly  patience  and  long-suf- 
fering. This  consciousness  that  the  Lord  is  near, 
will  also  restrain  them  from  wishing  to  anticipate 
his  justice,  to  take  the  work  of  retribution  into 
their  own  hands. — But  these  words  also  form  the 
transition  to  what  follows, — to  the  requirement 
"  Be  careful  for  nothing."  Here  too  we  must  take 
into  account  the  miserable  state  of  the  oppressed 
Christians ;  and  yet  they  were  to  be  careful  for 
nothmg,  in  the  consciousness  that  the  Lord  is  neai-. 
Not  all  human  care  is  forbidden  by  Paul,  who 
himself,  as  we  have  already  seen,f  in  this  very 
Epistle  lays  claim  to  earnest  human  efforts.     But 

*  This  might  indeed  be  understood  as  referring  to  time,  viz.  the  near- 
ness of  his  coming,  towards  which  the  Apostles  and  the  apostoh'c  age, 
overlooking  all  that  intervened,  directed  their  longing  desire.  But  this 
idea,  though  appropriate  in  some  points  of  view,  is  obviously  less  suited 
to  the  whole  connection  than  the  one  which  we  have  exhibited  in  the  text. 

t  See  p.  77. 


PHILIPPIANS.  137 

such  eutanglement  iu  cares  as  stands  in  contradic- 
tion with  that  requirement,  "  to  i-ejoice  always  iu 
the  Lord," — ^this  is  forbidden  by  him,  from  this 
should  the  conscious  nearness  of  the  Lord  restrain 
the  believer.  Instead  of  indulging  such  care,  he 
directs  them  rather  to  raise  the  soul  to  God,  and 
all  shall  become  light.  The  true  meaning  of  these 
words  appears  from  the  contrast  which  follows : 
'  But,  in  all  things,  make  your  requests  known  to 
God  in  prayer  and  supplication  with  thanksgiv- 
ing." There  is  a  carefulness  which  is  inconsistent 
with  confiding  prayer  to  God,  which  excludes  the 
spirit  of  filial  supplication.  Such  a  carefulness 
Paul  forbids.  As  he  had  made  the  whole  Chris- 
tian life  a  joy  in  the  Lord,  so  now  he  makes  it 
also  a  perpetual  prayer.  The  two  stand  in  inti- 
mate connection.  Neither  can  exist  without  the 
other.  He  does  not  require  the  suppression  of 
those  wants,  the  sense  of  which  begets  anxiety, 
but  that  the  sense  of  want  should  take  the  form 
of  prayer.  Thus  will  the  burdened  spirit  become 
lightened,  and  care  of  itself  will  fall  away.  Yet, 
although  the  Christian  has  wants  to  spread  oat 
before  God  in  prayer,  and  much  to  ask  of  Him  for 
the  future,  he  still  finds  in  every  situation  enough 


138  PHILIPPIANS. 

that  calls  for  thankfulness  to  God,  since  all  things 
work  together  for  good  to  those  who  love  Him. 
Paul  had  already  enjoined  on  the  Philippians,  af- 
flicted as  they  were,  to  rejoice  alw^ays  in  the  Lord; 
and  in  this  it  is  assumed  that  there  is  nothing  un- 
reasonable in  the  requirement,  that  they  should 
give  thanks  to  God.  The  whole  Christian  life 
should  be  a  prayer,  the  prayer  of  thanksgiving 
and  of  supplication,  in  the  consciousness  of  grace 
received  and  the  conscious  need  of  renewed  grace. 
Assuming  that  the  Philippians  followed  these  di- 
rections, he  could  impart  to  them  the  ;^ecious 
promise  which  assured  their  safety  in  all  conflicts : 
"  And  the  peace  of  God  which  passes  all  under- 
standing, shall  keep  your  hearts  and  minds 
through  Christ  Jesus." — Wh;it  does  Paul  here 
.say  ?  A¥hat  is  the  sense,  so  far  as  w'e  can  indicate 
it  in  brief,  of  his  deep  and  sublime  words  ?  If  the 
Philippians  so  conduct,  then  will  that  peace  Avith 
God,  which  they  have  received  from  Christ,  re- 
main with  them  ;  that  peace  which  is  the  fountain 
of  all  other  peace ;  which  can  exist  in  the  midst 
of  conflict  with  the  world,  and  can  be  disturbed 
])Y  no  other  i^owcr;  that  peace  of  which  Jesus 
sj)ake  (John  xiv.  27),  "Peace  I  leave  with  you, 


PHILIPPIANS.  1S9 

my  peace  I  give  unto  you ;  not  as  the  world 
glvetli  give  I  unto  you."  And  hence  he  adds,  for 
those  whom  he  left  behind  amidst  the  couflicts  of 
the  world,  the  consoling  promise,  "Let  not  your 
heart  be  troubled,  nor  let  it  be  afraid."  This 
|)eace,  as  it  has  God  for  its  author,  Paul  accord- 
ingly describes  as  a  peace  which  is  above  all 
human  conception.  He  who  has  this  peace  has 
more  than  he  himself  knows,  more  than  he  is  able 
to  set  forth  in  thou2:hts  and  words.  It  is  an  ovei-- 
flowing  heavenly  repose,  with  which  nothing- 
earthly  can  be  compared ;  which  fills  the  spirit  of 
him,  who,  having  been  reclaimed  from  disunion 
with  the  Infinite  and  the  Holy  One,  is  now  con- 
scious of  being  in  harmony  with  Him.  The  power 
of  this  peace,  says  Paul,  will  conduct  the  souls  that 
live  in  fellowship  with  Christ,  safe  and  unharmed 
throu<^h  all  conflicts  and  assaults  from  within  and 
from  without.  From  this  proceeds  the  ground- 
tone  of  their  thoughts  and  feelings,  this  is  their 
protection,  which  avails  against  all  human  care. 
With  this  may  be  compared  the  words  of  Paul  in 
the  Epistle  to  the  Colossians  f'  "  And  the  peace 
of  God  rule  in  your  hearts !"    The  peace  with  God 

*  Chap,  iil  16. 


140  niiLipriAifs. 

procured  to  tlie  believer  tlirougli  Christ,  the  peace 
whicli  lias  its  life  in  God,  of  which  they  are  as- 
sured iu  union  witli  him, — that  peace,  amid  all 
fluctuation,  is  the  controlling,  the  determining  ele- 
ment in  tlie  Christian  life. 


THE  :end. 


THE 


EPISTLE   OF   JAMES, 


PRACTICALLY  EXPLAINED, 


DR.  AUGUSTUS  .NBANDET^. 


TRANSLATED  FROM  THE  GERMAN 


MRS.  H.  C.  CONANT. 


■^  Why  call  ye  mo  Lord,  Lord,  and  do  not  the  things  which  I  sayV* 


NE  W-Y  0  KK: 
SHELDON    &    COMPANY, 

BOSTON:  GOULD  &  LINCOLN. 

CHICAGO  :    8.  C.  GRIGGS. 


Eutcrea,  according  to  Apt  of  Congress,  in  the  year  185^, 

BY    LEWIS    COLBY, 

In  tlie  Clerk's  Office  of  the  Southern  District  of  New  York. 


It  is  with  great  pleasure  that  the  translator  offers  to  the  Chris- 
tian public,  the  second  number  of  Neander's  Practical  Expositions, 
believing  that  it  will  be  found  no  less  interesting  than  the  preced- 
ing volume  on  the  Epistle  to  the  Philippians.  It  is  characterized 
by  the  same  masterly  power  of  development,  the  same  depth  and 
fulness  of  Christian  experience.  Seed-thoughts  crowd  every  page ; 
and  many  single  passages,  in  sublimity  of  moral  sentiment  and 
beauty  of  illustration,  equal  anything  which  Neander  has  written. 
As  being  more  strictly  practical  in  its  character,  and  elucidating  a 
portion  of  the  Divine  word  less  understood,  it  may  be  even  more 
generally  acceptable  and  useful  than  the  former  Exposition.  It 
restores  to  us,  so  to  speak,  one  of  the  lost  treasures  of  the  church ; 
for  no  part  of  the  New  Testament  has  been  more  misunderstood 
and  perverted,  or  suffered  more  general  neglect,  than  this  Epistle. 
Luther  rejected  it  without  ceremony,  calling  it  "an  epistle  of 
straw ;"  and  many  more  timid  minds  have  been  greatly  perplexed 
by  its  apparent  contrariety  to  the  doctrines  of  grace.  The  discus- 
sion of  its  character  and  claims,  hitherto  confined  to  scholars,  is 
here  presented  in  a  form  intelligible  and  practically  useful  to  com- 
mon Christians. 

By  the  light  of  Neander's  comprehensive  mind,  we  see  in  Jnincs 
not  the  opponent  of  Paul,  or  of  the  great  doctrine  of  justification 


by  faith  alone ;  but  the  earnest  expounder  of  that  "  Law  of  Lib- 
erty," of  whicli  justification  by  faith  is  the  chief  corner-stone. 
Paul  develops  the  principle;  James  depicts  its  results  in  the  life. 
Paul  unfolds  the  great  love  of  God  towards  us ;  James  points  out 
the  tests,  whether  this  love  has  been  received  into  our  hearts  and 
become  there  the  vitalizing,  reigning  principle.  It  is  the  tree 
known  by  its  fruit,  the  enkindled  light  by  the  light  which  it  im- 
parts, the  life  within  by  the  outward  signs  of  life.  In  the  person- 
ality of  James,  and  the  character  of  the  churches  whom  he  ad- 
dressed, we  find  the  true  key  to  this  Epistle.  Placed  side  by  side 
with  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount,  it  is  seen  to  be  a  ftiithful  reflection 
of  that  divine  original ;  its  whole  essence  and  intent  being  com- 
prised in  those  words  of  our  Saviour,  which  we  have  prefixed  to 
this  volume  as  its  most  appropriate  motto :  "  Why  call  ye  me 
Lord,  Lord,  and  do  not  the  things  which  I  say  !" 

One  opinion  advanced  in  the  author's  introductory  remarks,  viz., 
that  James  was  not  an  Apostle,  may  not  gain  the  assent  of  all  his 
readers.  Neander  himself  formerly  held,*  with  many  other  dis- 
tinguished critics,  that  this  epistle  was  written  by  the  Apostle 
James,  the  son  of  Alpheus  and  of  Mary  the  sister  of  our  Lord's 
mother;  who,  as  being  the  n<'ar  kinsman  of  tlie  Lord,  was  in  ac- 
cordance with  Jewish  usage  called  his  brother.  The  writer  may 
be  permitted  to  suggest  that  the  practical  inferences,  here  so  skil- 
fully traced,  might  be  drawn,  though  not  indeed  with  equal  force, 
from  the  author's  earlier  view.  James,  as  the  Lord's  own  brother, 
or  as  a  near  kinsman,  must  in  either  case  have  been  subject  to 
very  similar  influence^,  arising  from  near  earthly  relationship  to 
Christ.  In  the  exposition  itself,  there  is  nothing  at  variance  with 
*  Paulus  und  Jacobus,  1822. 


either  supposition.  Nor  does  either  view  affect  what  Neander  so 
truthfully  says  of  the  relations  of  the  mother  of  Jesus,  and  of  the 
contrast  between  the  earthly  and  the  spiritual ;  since  there  were. 
as  we  have  every  reason  to  believe,  "  brothers  of  the  Lord"  in  thb 
strictest  sense. 

To  facilitate  the  use  of  the  translation,  the  first  part  has  been 
divided  into  sections  with  a  brief  statement  of  the  contents  of 
each,  for  which  the  translator  is  responsible.  The  quotations  from 
the  Epistle  are  given  in  the  words  of  the  English  version,  with  the 
author's  variations  in  brackets  wherever  they  are  made  the  basis 
of  his  view. 

The  third  and  last  number  of  this  series,  the  Exposition  of  the 
First  Epistle  of  John,  was  prepared  for  the  press  by  the  author, 
and  has  been  given  to  the  public  since  his  decease.  A  translation 
of  it  will  follow  as  soon  as  practicable. 

H.C.  C. 

RooHESTEE,  N.  Y.,  Jan.  1862. 


THE  EPISTLE   OF  JAMES. 


INTEODUCTION. 

§  1.  Diversities  in  modes  of  religious  development,  and  in  the 
consequent  forms  of  faith. 

It  is  tlie  remark  of  one  of  the  early.  Churcli  Fa- 
thers, that  what  Paul  says  of  himself, — viz.  that  he 
became  all  things  to  all  men,  that  he  might  win  all 
to  the  Gospel, — is  true  in  a  still  higher  degree 
of  Him  who  was  in  this  the  Apostle's  pattern,  of 
Christ  himself.  We  see  it  in  that  manifold  variety 
of  manner,  adapted  to  all  the  varieties  in  human 
character  and  relations,  by  which,  both  in  his  per- 
sonal labors  on  earth,  and  in  his  spiritual  revela- 
tions among  all  nations  since  his  ascension,  he  has 
drawn  men  to  a  saving  knowledge  of  himself  His 
manner,  while  laboring  upon  earth,  is  indeed  an 
image  of  that  invisible  divine  agency  extending 
through  all  times,  in  whicli  he  evermore  reveals 


8 

himself  as  the  same  yesterday,  to-day,  and  forever. 
This  diversity  Christ  himself  indicates,  in  those 
parables  in  which  he  describes  how  the  kingdom 
of  God  is  found ;  showing  at  the  same  time  the 
one  thing,  in  which  all  must  finally  agree  who 
would  become  partakers  of  the  kingdom  of  God, 
and  the  varieties  of  way  and  manner  in  which  they 
are  conducted  thither.  Only  those  attain  to  the 
kingdom  of  God  who  enter  it  by  violence.  Only 
those  find  the  treasure  hidden  in  the  field,  who  are 
ready  to  sell  all  they  have  that  they  may  become 
possessors  of  tlmt  field.  Only  those  secure  posses- 
sion of  that  precious  pearl,  outshining  in  beauty  and 
splendor  all  beside,  who  prize  it  above  all  else,  and 
shun  no  pains,  no  cost  to  win  it  for  themselves, — 
esteeming  all  other  good  as  nothing,  for  the  sake 
of  that  one  highest  good,  the  kingdom  of  God. 

But  in  order  to  bring  men  to  this  decision  of 
purpose,  without  whicb  none  can  enter  the  king- 
dom of  God,  they  must  be  acted  on  in  various 
\vays  suited  to  their  various  characters  and  cir- 
cumstances. Some  are  like  the  merchant,  who 
having  spared  no  pains  or  cost  to  find  precious 
pearls,  at  length,  through  this  earnest  and  la- 
borious seai'ch,  secures  possession  of  that  richest 


of  all  jewels.  Siicli  are  lliose,  who,  impelled  by 
longing  after  some  satisfying  good,  already  have 
sought  it  long  in  vain.  They  have  found  many 
things  which  satisfy  in  part ;  but  in  the  end  have 
learned,  that  of  all  these  not  one  can  give  the  spir- 
it full  and  lasting  satisfaction.  Thus  they  are 
ever  beginning  the  search  anew,  till  at  length, 
through  this  ever-renev/ed  effort  they  attain  to 
that  one  highest  good,  and  find  in  it  the  full  satis- 
faction which  their  souls  require.  Others  again, 
seeking  no  treasure,  come  unawares  upon  the  field 
containing  it,  and  find  it  as  it  were  by  accident. 
Such  are  those,  in  whom  the  longing  after  the 
highest  good,  the  kingdom  of  God,  has  not  yet 
been  aAvakened  ;  who  are  surj^rised  by  an  unsought 
gift,  which  imparts  to  their  souls  a  satisfaction 
never  imagined  and  never  sought.  The  one  class, 
by  a  gradual  progressive  development  out  of  a  life, 
in  which  preparative  grace  had  from  the  first  given 
tokens  of  its  active  presence,  quickening  and  un- 
folding by  various  means  the  life-germ  in  the 
higher  nature,- — had  thus  been  finally  drawn  into 
full  fellowship  with  the  Lord.  The  other,  wil- 
ling slaves  of  passions  that  long  withstood  the 
divine  call,  had  been   drawn   at  length,  as  by  a 


10 

power  that  constraiiieil  their  resisting  will,  to  him 
whose  love  seeks  the  deliverance  of  all. 

Since  now  the  mode  of  development  is  so  dif- 
ferent in  the  two  cases,  so  also  will  be  the  form 
which  faith  assumes  in  each.  To  the  one,  the  new 
state  to  which  he  has  attained  will  seem  but  as  the 
aim  and  completion  of  that  earlier  one,  which  by 
many  progressive  steps  conducted  to  and  ended  in 
it ;  and  that  earlier  form  of  life,  out  of  which  he 
passed  into  this  new  state,  will  always  remain  to 
him  a  dear  and  familiar  one.  To  the  view  of  the 
other,  the  new  state  will  present  itself  as  in  direct 
opposition  to  the  old.  These  two  forms  of  concep- 
tion are  both  founded  in  truth ;  each  will,  in  its 
peculiar  manner,  contribute  to  the  glo-y  and  fur- 
therance of  Christianity.  The  first  is  especially 
adapted  to  show,  how  all  that  preceded  this  ne\\- 
state  was  designed  to  prepare  the  way  for  it ;  and 
here  the  change  vrill  manifest  itself  iu  a  less  stri- 
king form.  The  second  is  certainly  the  more  thor- 
ough and  profound, — presenting  a  more  complete 
development  of  the  new  life  in  its  essential  nature, 
in  which  it  is  exalted  above  all  else. 

This  diversity  and  variety,  observable  in  the 
whole    process    of   development   through    which 


11 

Christianity  has  passed,  in  the  entire  history  of  the 
Church,  appears  also  in  the  earliest  stage  of  that 
process  belonging  to  the  apostolic  age.  But  in  its 
later  history,  we  often  find  these  differences, — 
wliich,  as  already  indicated,  should  be  mutually  sup- 
plemental, serving  each  to  complete  the  other, — 
separating  the  one  from  the  other,  and  assuming  the 
attitude  of  irreconcilable  antagonism.  The  per- 
ception of  the  higher  unity  is  wanting ;  although 
he  who  can  recos^nize  the  One  Christ  in  all  his 
manifestations,  partial  as  they  may  be  and  ob- 
scured by  human  nari'owness  of  view,  will  be  able 
even  fi-om  this  antao^onism  to  deduce  that  hiorher 
unity.  From  this  source  have  sprung  those  con- 
troversies, which  have  done  so  much  to  destroy 
rather  than  to  edify.  On  the  contrary,  the  relation 
of  the  great  Teachers  of  the  New  Testament  to  one 
another,  as  exhibited  to  us  in  their  lives  and  wri- 
tings, enables  us  to  view  these  manifold  forms  of 
conception  as  mutually  completive ;  not  excluding 
one  another,  but  belonging  together  as  parts  of 
the  same  whole, — the  One  Christ  in  the  broken 
rays  of  his  manifold  revelation  through  various 
organs. 

It  is  in  this  light  we  are  to  regard  James,  the 


12 

brother  of  tlie  Lord,  a-  forining  the  counterpart  to 
the  great  Apostle  of  the  Gentiles.  That  we  may  be 
able  rightly  to  understand  and  apply  his  Epistle, 
according  to  the  plan  adopted  in  our  explanation 
of  Paul's  Epistle  to  the  Piiilippians,  we  must  first 
endeavor  to  form  a  distinct  idea  of  his  whole  per- 
sonality, as  exhibited  in  the  circumstances  of  his 
personal  development  and  in  his  labors,  as  well 
as  in  this  Epistle. 

§  2.  Personal  relations  and  religious  development  of  James. 

In  reference  to  the  personality  of  James,  the 
fact  is  an  important  one  that  he  did  not  belong  to 
the  number  of  the  Apostles.  The  Apostles  were 
formed  out  of  those  disciples,  who  had  attached 
themselves  to  the  Redeemer  with  minds  still  un- 
developed, and  yielding  with  cliildlike  suscepti- 
bility wholly  to  his  influence.  They  had  not  been 
previously  formed  in  another  school,  before  coming 
into  connection  with  him.  Their  whole  develop- 
ment they  had  received  in  intercoui'se  with  him  ; 
and  hence  they  were  fitted,  in  a  peculiar  manner, 
to  become  vessels  of  his  all-transforming  grace,  to 
receive  in  themselves  a  faithful  impress  of  his 
image,  and  to  serve  as  instruments  for  the  diffusion 


13 

of  his  word  and  his  spirit  through  all  ages.  With 
Paul  it  was  far  otherwise.  He  had,  indeed,  this 
in  common  with  the  rest  of  the  Apostles,  viz.  that 
he  could  bear  testimony  as  an  eye-witness  to  the 
Risen  Christ,  and  had  received  an  immediate,  per- 
sonal impression  of  him.  Bat  he  had  come  to 
Christ,  -with  a  well-defined  system  formed  in  a 
wholly  different  school ;  and  hence,  in  his  case,  the 
new  man  in  Christ  must  present  in  its  develop- 
ment the  strongest  possible  contrast  with  his  ear- 
lier character. 

Unlike  to  both  of  these  cases  was  that  of  James. 
He  was  a  brother  of  the  Lord  according  to  the 
flesh.  '  All  those  passages  of  the  Gospels  in  which 
"  brothers  of  the  Lord"  are  mentioned,  together 
with  Matt.  i.  25,  are  most  naturally  explained  on 
the  supposition,  that  after  the  birth  of  Jesus  Mary 
bore  still  other  sons.  These  were  the  "  brothers 
of  the  Lord,"  of  whom  James  was  one.  Liasmuch 
as  marriage  and  the  production  of  offspring,  like 
everything  belonging  to  our  nature,  was  to  be 
sanctified  through  Christ,  there  is  nothing  in  such 
a  supposition  which  is  at  all  questionable,  nothing 
derogatory  to  the  dignity  of  the  mother  of  Christ, 
or  to  his  own.     If  anything  offensive  is  found  in  it, 


14 

it  is  owing  solely  to  a  mistaken  veneration  of  Mary, 
and  to  tliat  false  ascetic  tendency,  whose  views  of 
the  unholiness  of  the  married  state,  and  of  the 
superiority  of  celibacy,  are  entirely  at  variance 
with  the  spirit  of  Christianity.  On  the  contrary, 
it  is  only  when  thus  seen  in  contrast  with  the  usual 
course  of  nature,  that  the  birth  of  Jesus,  as  effect 
ed  by  supernatural  agency,  appears  in  its  true  light 
and  its  true  significance.  Christ,  as  the  miracu- 
lously begotten  son  of  Mary,  then  appears  in  con- 
trast with  the  offspring  of  Mary  according  to  the 
laws  of  natural  descent ;  the  contrast  between 
the  natural  and  the  supernatural  (as  Paul  desig- 
nates it.  Gal.  iv.  23  and  29),  between  him  that  is 
born  after  the  spirit  and  him  that  is  born  after 
the  flesh ;  the  contrast  which  pervades  the  whole 
process  of  development  in  the  kingdom  of  God. 

James  was  therefore,  in  his  religious  develop- 
ment, distinguished  from  the  other  preachers  of 
the  Gospel,  in  that  it  neither  j^roceeded  so  entirely 
and  from  its  iirst  beginnings  from  Christ  himself 
as  was  the  case  with  the  other  Apostles, — no- 
formed  itself  out  of  such  a  contrast  between  the 
earlier  and  the  later,  as  appears  in  the  case  of  Paul. 
His  path  of  development,  originating  elsewhere, 


15 

moved  on  for  a  time  independently  beside  that 
circle  of  influences,  wliicli  had  formed  itself  from 
and  around  Christ,  and  not  till  a  later  period  be- 
came wholly  united  with  it. 

Now  it  might  seem,  indeed,  that  one  so  closely 
connected  with  the  Lord  as  his  own  brother,  the 
daily  witness  of  his  life  and  actions,  was  the  one 
fitted  above  all  others  to  become  his  disciple ;  that 
one  so  pre-eminently  favored  from  the  first,  must 
have  been  in  many  respects  in  advance  of  the 
Apostles  themselves.  On  this  view  was  founded 
the  judgment  of  the  common  Jewish  Christians, 
that  they  were  bound  to  exalt  James  above  all 
other  preachers  of  the  Gospel,  and  to  pay  special 
respect  to  his  authority. 

In  the  estimation  thus  formed  of  him,  by  the 
standard  of  the  merely  external  natural  relation  to 
Christ,  we  perceive  the  intermingling  of  the  Jew- 
ish spirit  in  the  conception  of  Christianity, — its 
opposite  constituting  the  true  Christian  stand- 
point ;  as,  in  general,  the  disposition  to  the  out- 
ward and  formal  in  religious  things  is  Jewish, 
while  the  tendency  to  the  inward  and  spiritual 
belongs  to  the  nature  of  Christianity.  The  inter- 
nal and  external  stand  not  seldom  in  inverse  pro- 


16 

portion  to  each  other.  lie  u^ho  stood  iu  the  near- 
est external  relations  to  the  revelation  of  the  king- 
dom of  God,  to  the  manifestation  of  the  divine  in 
humanity,  to  the  appearance  of  the  Son  of  God, — 
might  in\Yardly  be  farthest  from  it,  and  so  remain 
if  he  stopped  at  the  external  manifestation,  if  he 
accustomed  himself  to  see  only  with  the  bodily 
eye,  and  through  this  habit  was  hindered  from 
penetrating  with  the  eye  of  the  spirit  to  that 
which  was  within.  This  we  see  in  the  whole  rela- 
tion of  the  Jews  to  the  Idngdom  of  God,  and  to 
the  Messiah  who  proceeded  from  the  midst  of  this 
people,  destined  to  prepare  the  way  for  his  mani- 
festation. Christ  himself  testifies,  in  opposition  to 
this  outward  Jewish  tendency,  that  the  external 
natural  relation  is  of  no  account ;  that  all  depends 
rather  on  the  inward  relation,  formed  by  the  di- 
rection of  the  mind  and  heart ;  that  not  natural 
relationship,  but  submission  of  the  soul,  can  alone 
bring  one  into  union  with  him.  So  on  one  occa- 
sion, when  he  was  occupied  with  his  life-work,  the 
preaching  of  the  Gospel,  among  those  Avho  listened 
to  his  words  with  eager  and  receptive  hearts  ;  he 
repelled  those  who  would  interrupt  him  on  the 
plea  that  his  nearest  kindred,  his  mother  and  breth- 


17 

ren,  desired  to  see  him.  Pointing  to  the  circle 
of  disciples,  in  whom  the  seed  of  the  divine  word 
was  received  into  the  good  soil  of  receptive  and 
retentive  hearts,  he  said :  "  My  mother  and  my 
')ietlireu  are  these,  who  hear  the  word  of  God  and 
do  it."  (Luke  viii.  21,  Mark  iii.  34,  35.)  Thus  the 
essential  point  is  not,  how  one  is  related  to  him  by 
natural  descent,  but  how  he  is  in  spirit  related  to 
the  divine  will  revealed  by  him.  Here  also  be- 
longs the  incident  related  Luke  xi.  27,  28.  A 
woman,  powerfully  affected  by  the  divine  impres- 
sion of  his  words,  cried  out  from  the  midst  of  the 
listening  multitude :  "  Blessed  is  the  womb  that 
bare  thee,  and  the  breasts  which  thou  hast  suck- 
ed !"  "  Yea  rather,"  he  replied,  implying  tlie  van- 
ity of  this  supposed  advantage,  "  blessed  are  they 
who  hear  the  word  of  God  and  keep  it !"  Pro- 
phetic warnings  !  Not  only  against  that  external- 
izing tendency,  as  shown  in  the  admixture  of  the 
old  Jewish  spiiit  with  Christianity, — but  against 
that  same  spirit  as  it  has  often,  in  later  times  and 
under  other  forms,  reappeared  in  the  Christian 
Church  ! 

Thus  the  very  thing,  which  might  seem  most 
favorable  to  the  i-eligious  development  of  Jamtjs, 


18 

turned  to  his  disadvantage.  The  saying  which 
Clirist  used  in  reference  to  his  fellow-townsmen 
among  whom  the  greater  part  of  his  life  had  been 
spent,  and  who  had  been  eye-witnesses  of  his  pro- 
gressive development  from  childhood, — "A  pro- 
phet is  of  no  honor  in  his  own  country," — applies 
with  equal  force  to  the  case  of  James  and  his  bro- 
thers. For  the  very  reason,  that  they  had  from 
the  first  been  eye-witnesses  of  the  human  earthly 
development  of  the  Son  of  Man,  they  were  not 
able  to  penetrate  beyond  the  outward  human  veil. 
It  became  to  them  a  stone  of  stumbling.  True 
they  afterwards  witnessed  the  revelation  of  the 
Son  of  God,  both  in  the  inward  power  of  the  divine 
life  perceptible  only  to  the  inwardly  awakened 
sense  for  the  divine,  and  in  those  proofs  of  power 
exhibited  in  his  raii-acles.  Still  the  faith,  thus  at 
times  awakened,  gave  way  continually  to  that 
skepticism  proceeding  from  the  prejudices  of  the 
natural  man,  who  judges  only  after  the  flesh  and 
by  the  outward  appearance;  and  thus,  during  the 
whole  earthly  life  of  Christ,  they  remained  in  tliis 
state  of  vacillation,  wavering  between  faitli  and 
unbelief.  But  when  that  stone  of  stumblins:  ^^n^s 
taken  out  of  their  way,  and  the  Sou  of  God  no 


19 

longer  stood  before  their  eyes  in  tlie  eartlily  veil 
of  tlie  Son  of  Man ;  when  lie,  who  was  believed 
dead,  showed  himself  victorious  over  death  and 
living  in  divine  power,  to  those  whose  weak  faith 
required  sucli  confirmation  ;  it  was  then,  that  the 
decisive  and  final  direction  was  given  to  the  devel- 
opment of  the  religious  life  of  James  (1  Cor.  xv.  7). 
From  this  time  forward  we  see  in  him  the  decided, 
unwavering,  zealous  witness  of  the  faith  in  thiii 
Jesus,  as  his  Messiah,  Lord  and  Saviour,  who  had 
been  his  own  brother  according  to  the  flesh.  (James 

i.  1.) 

I  3.  Stand-point  of  James  as  an  inspired  teacher,  and  liis  relation 
to  Paul. 

The  manner,  however,  in  which  he  testified  of 
Christ,  took  its  character  from  his  previous  train- 
ing and  course  of  life.  He,  above  all  others,  stood 
on  the  ground  of  Jewish  piety  in  the  Old  Testa- 
ment forms;  and  had  already  completely  devel- 
oped himself  within  this  sphere,  when  he  was  led 
to  that  decisive  faith  in  Jesus,  as  the  Messiah 
promised  in  the  Old  Testament.  From  this  new 
point  of  view,  his  previous  Judaism  unfolded  itself 
in  its  true  and  full  import.     Christianity  now  ap- 


20 

pears  to  liiin  as  the  true  Judaism.  The  spirit 
which  proceeds  from  Christ  explains  the  forms  of 
the  Old  Testament,  and  leads  them  to  their  proper 
fulfilment.  The  position  of  James  is  precisely  that 
taken  by  Christ  in  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount ; 
which  contains  the  germ  of  all  that  is  peculiar  to 
the  Gospel,  without  expressly  declaring  the  abro- 
gation of  the  Law  ;  where  all  is  presented  under 
the  idea  of  the  kingdom  of  God,  and  the  reference 
of  each  particular  to  the  person  of  Christ,  though 
everywhere  implied  and  forming  the  central 
point  of  all,  is  nowhere  asserted  in  words.  Hence 
in  the  development  of  the  divine  kingdom, — where 
as  in  all  the  works  of  God,  the  works  of  grace  as 
well  as  of  nature,  no  chasms  are  allowed  but  all 
proceeds  by  progressive  steps, — James  forms  a 
very  important  transition-point  from  the  Old  to 
the  Ne\v  Testament.  Something  would  be  want- 
ing to  us,  if  we  had  not  James  in  the  New  Testa- 
ment. And  that  narrowness  of  view,  which  dis 
dnins  to  follow  patiently  this  gradual  develop- 
ment,— demanding  everywhere  and  at  once  the 
perfected  fi)rm, — may  find  its  punishment  in  the 
consequent  incompleteness  of  its  own  Christian 
knowledge.     As  a  means  of  leading  pious  Jews  to 


21 

faith  in  the  Gospel,  this  position  of  James  was  of 
special  use.  Just  in  proportion  as  it  would  have 
been  detrimental  to  a  Paul,  whose  mission  was  the 
conversion  of  the  heathen  nations,  was  it  advan 
tageous  to  James  in  the  sphere  of  labor  assigned  to 
him  in  Palestine,  and  particularly  in  Jerusalem 
amono^  unmixed  Jews.  Thus  divine  wisdom  mani- 
fests  itself  in  assigning  to  each  his  sphere,  his  pecu- 
liar mission  in  the  development  of  the  kingdom  of 
God,  adapted  to  his  peculiar  qualifications.  The 
sole  concern  is  that  each  rightly  fulfil  his  appoint- 
ed mission,  understand  and  faithfully  adhere  to  his 
prescribed  limits ;  while  at  the  same  time  he  recog- 
nizes the  divine  call  in  him  also,  to  whom  as  the 
possessor  of  other  gifts  another  sphere  of  labor  has 
been  assigned, — and  is  willing  to  regard  their  sev- 
eral sj)heres  as  each  the  complement  of  the  other. 
Such  was  the  relation  of  James  to  Paul, 

James  did  indeed  know,  from  the  first,  what  the 
voice  of  prophecy  had  indicated,  of  the  coming  ex- 
tension of  Jehovah's  worship  among  the  heathen 
nations,  and  of  their  participation  in  the  blessings 
of  the  divine  kingdom, — a  glory  which  belonged 
to  Messianic  times, — and  also  that  this  was  to  be 
fulfilled  through  Christ  as  the  Messiah.     But  the 


possibility  of  a  worsliip  of  Jeliovali  excej)!  in  the 
old  legal  forms,  or  of  a  participation  in  tlie  king- 
dom of  God  in  any  other  way,  remained  hidden 
from  him  at  first,  even  after  he  had  attained  to  a 
settled  feith  in  Jesus  as  the  Messiah.  The  intima- 
tions in  the  discourses  of  Christ  that  his  word 
should  become  the  leaven,  which,  by  an  indwel- 
ling power  alone  and  independently  of  all  else, 
should  penetrate  the  life  of  humanity ;  in  Jews 
and  Gentiles  alike  leavening  all  and  forming  it 
anew ;  that  the  new  spirit  of  Christianity  should 
burst  asunder  and  break  through  the  forms  of 
legal  Judaism ;  these  intimations  he  did  not  yet 
understand.  Tliis  belonged  to  those  things  of 
which  Christ  said,  in  his  parting  words  to  his  dis- 
ciples, that  what  they  could  not  yet  comprehend 
should  afterwards  be  revealed  to  them  by  the 
Holy  Spirit.  But  this  revelation  of  the  Holy 
Sj)irit  was  not  imparted  to  all  at  the  same  time, 
nor  in  the  same  way.  This  too  was  determined 
by  the  different  stand-points  from  which  they  had 
attained  to  faith  in  the  Gospel.  Accordingly, 
more  or  less  of  preparation  might  be  requu'ed  for 
leading  them  to  that  more  j)erfect  knowledge  ;  it 
might  be  effected  more  by  a  process  of  thought 


23 

inspired  and  guided  by  the  Holy  Spirit,  and  tlins 
enabled  to  develop  and  appreliend  the  whole  sum 
of  revealed  truth, — or  it  might  be  more  the  effect 
of  immediate  illumination  by  the  Divine  Spirit. 
In  the  history  of  the  church,  we  meet  with  manv 
melancholy  examples  of  opposition  and  estrange- 
ment, when  the  sj)hitual  insight  attained  by  one 
is  still  withheld  from  another,  and  the  one  thus  be- 
comes free  from  the  narrow  limits  in  which  the 
other  is  still  confined.  Even  in  the  apostolic 
church,  this  was  tlie  source  of  much  disunion  and 
division. 

But  James  was  fjir  from  that  narrow  obstinacy 
of  temper,  which  would  not  allow  any  stand-23oiut 
but  his  own ;  would  permit  no  opposing  facts  to 
influence  his  convictions, — promptly  rejecting  the 
truth  revealed  to  others  because  it  was  not  im- 
parted through  Kim,  and  thus  setting  bounds  "to 
the  farther  development  of  the  kingdom  of  God. 
When,  at  the  apostolic  conference  (Acts  xv.),  the 
controverted  point  respecting  the  observance  of 
the  Mosaic  law  was  for  the  first  time  discussed, 
and  Peter  and  Paul  bore  testimony  to  the  efi:ects 
of  the  Gospel  among  believing  Gentiles,  who  had 
not  submitted  to  circumcision,  nor  in  any  other 


24 

respect  to  the  observance  of  the  Lavr ;  these  unde- 
niable facts  were  proof  enough  for  James,  that 
through  faith  in  the  Saviour,  the  same  divine 
results  were  produced  among  the  heathen  a;^ 
among  believing  Jews.  In  this  he  saw  a  fulfil- 
ment of  the  Old  Testament  predictions ;  and  he 
now  learned  their  true  aim  and  import,  as  he  had 
never  understood  it  before.  The  mild  conciliating 
spirit  of  James  is  shown,  by  the  manner  in  which 
he  sought  to  reconcile  the  differences  between 
the  Jewish  and  Gentile  Christians.  He  could  do 
justice  to  a  stand-point  wholly  different  from  h[<^ 
own.  Believing  Gentiles,  on  the  ground  of  their 
faith  merely,  were  to  be  admitted  to  equality  with 
believing  Jews  in  the  fellowship  of  the  divine 
kingdom;  only,  for  the  furtherance  of  harmony 
witli  believers  from  among  the  Jeu'S,  they  were  to 
conform  in  certain  external  ]X)iDts,  which  might  also 
serve  to  withhold  them  from  participation  in  every- 
thing connected  with  heathen  worship.  But  while 
James  recognized  the  equality  of  churches  consist- 
ing of  uncirciimcised  Gentiles,  and  allowed  to  the 
preaching  of  the  Gospel  among  the  Gentiles  its 
own  rights  as  an  independent  calling ;  he  at  the 
same  time  remained  true  to  his  own  peculiar  stiuul- 


poiut,  according  to  wliich  tlie  old  forms  were  to  1  >e 
continued  as  depositories  of  the  new  spirit,  and  tlie 
Jews  were  to  retain  their  religions  nationality  un- 
changed. Still,  as  we  see  from  the  Acts  of  the 
Apostles,  he  was  ever  the  mediator  between  Paul 
and  the  zealots  among  the  Jewish  Christians,  who 
were  prejudiced  against  him.  Here  too  he  always 
conducted  in  the  same  spirit  of  mildness  and  con- 
ciliation. 

§  4.  Character  and  condition  of  the  Churches  to  wliom  the 
Epistle  was  addressed,  and  nature  of  the  errors  against  which 
it  was  directed. 

In  order  now  to  understand  and  rightly  apply 
the  Epistle  of  James,  we  must  endeavor  toform  a 
distinct  conception  of  those  to  whom  it  was  ad- 
dressed, and  whose  peculiar  circumstances  lie  had 
especially  in  view. 

We  can,  indeed,  say  nothing  definite  in  regard 
to  the  region  where  these  churches  are  to  be 
sought.  The  Epistle  itself  furnishes  only  general 
information,  sufficient,  however,  for  the  practical 
purposes  we  have  now  in  view.  The  essential 
points  are  these  :  There  were  churches  consisting 
exclusively  of  Christians  of  Jemsh  origin,  in  which 
all  the  practical  errors  of  Judaism  were  associated 
2 


26 

with  faith  in  Jesns  as  tlie  Messiali ;  and  in  which 
there  were  many,  who  gave  little  or  no  evidence 
of  the  new  creation  which  is  the  necessary  pro- 
duct of  that  faith. 

That  wholly  earthly  direction  of  mincl,  which 
was  often  connected  with  false  zeal  for  the  honor 
of  God  ;  the  insatiable  love  of  gain,  and  consequent 
divisions  from  the  clashing  of  selfish  interests ; 
these  were  the  faults  which  they  had  brought 
with  them  from  their  earlier  Jewish  state,  into 
their  new  Christian  relation.  The  aristocracy  of 
wealth  held  in  check  the  pervading  spirit  of  Chris- 
tian love,  whose  office  it  is  to  repress  and  triumph 
over  all  earthly  distinctions.  Instead  of  I)eing  oh- 
literated  by  that  spirit  of  love,  the  distinctions 
caused  by  the  unequal  distribution  of  wealth,  were 
recognized  and  maintained  at  the  expense  of  that 
fraternal  relation,  which  should  characterize  a  com- 
munity of  Christians.  Furthermore,  it  belonged  to 
the  defects  of  this  false  Jewish  spirit,  that,  instead 
of  regarding  piety  as  a  whole,  proceeding  from  the 
inward  temper  of  the  heart  and  embracing  the  en- 
tire life ;  it  held  only  to  particular  observances  of 
the  outward  life,  in  w^hich  piety  sliould  manifest 
itself, — that  tendency  to  the  external  in  religion  of 


which  wo  have  spoken.  This  manifested  itself  in 
the  f^reixt  value  attached  to  external  descent  from 
the  theocratic  people,  to  circumcision  and  the 
works  of  the  Law,  making  justification  dei^eiident 
thei'eon.  This  same  spirit  now  passed  over  to  the 
Jewish  Christians ;  and  became  especially  promi- 
nent, wherever  they  had  the  ascendency  in  oppo- 
sition to  Gentiles  and  Gentile  Christians. 

This  tendency  was  one  which,  from  its  very  na- 
ture, belongs  exclusively  to  no  age ;  it  Avas  no 
mere  thing  of  the  j)ast,  extinguished  with  Judaism 
once  for  all,  and  never  to  reappear  in  the  Christian 
cliurch.  The  declaration  of  the  preacher  of  wisdom 
is  applicable  here, — that  "  what  has  been  will  be, 
and  there  is  nothing  new  under  the  sun."  What 
we  here  term  the  Jewish  spirit,  had  not  its  origin 
in  anything  inherent  in  Judaism  as  a  divine  insti- 
tution ;  ])ut  is  to  be  referred  rather  to  the  nature 
of  the  unrenewed  man,  drawing  down  the  divine 
to  his  own  level,  and  seeking  to  appro j)riate  it  to 
himself  without  renouncing  his  own  peculiar  nature. 
Now  as  the  nature  of  the  unrenewed  man  remains 
ever  the  same,  there  must  at  all  times  proceed 
from  it  this  same  erroneous  tendency,  which  we 
may  characterize  as  in  its  spirit  and  nature  Jewish. 


28 

This  Jewish,  spirit  shows  itself  equally,  when  the 
unrenewed  nature  of  man  mingles  its  distui'bing  in- 
fluence with  the  conception  of  Christianity.  It  is 
seen  in  the  disposition  to  value  one's  self  on  the 
ground  of  descent  from  a  Christian  people,  or  from 
some  particular  nation  distinguished  in  earlier 
times  for  its  piety,  and  on  this  account  assigned  a 
more  conspicuous  place  in  the  history  of  God's 
kingdom ;  without  considering  that  if  his  own 
life  does  not  correspond  to  the  peculiar  character 
and  j)osition  of  such  a  people,  this  connection, 
instead  of  being  his  glory,  will  become  his  con- 
demnation. So  is  it  also  with  pretensions  based 
on  a  father's  pious  deeds,  without  any  effort  to 
imitate  his  example.  So  is  it  when  connection 
with  a  particular  church  is  made  one's  only  boast, 
his  sole  ground  of  hope,  and  no  importance  is 
attached  to  the  practice  of  genuine  Christianity ; 
when,  in  short,  in  the  outward  organization  of  the 
church,  the  essence  of  Christianity  itself  is  forgot- 
ten. In  each  and  all  of  these  cases,  we  pei-ceive 
the  same  practical  error  of  the  Jewish  spirit.  So 
if  we  base  our  confidence  on  a  zealous  devotion  to 
the  external  observances  of  Christian  worship,  at- 
tendance upon  divine  service,  the  celebration  of 


29 

the  sacraments,  without  going  beyond  the  outward 
form ;  this  is  in  spirit  precisely  the  same,  as  tliat 
Jewish  reliance  upon  circumcision  and  the  works 
of  the  Law.  The  name  alone  is  changed ;  the 
thing  itself  remains  the  same.  Hence  all  the 
arguments  and  warnings  against  such  a  tendency, 
Avhich  we  find  in  Paul's  Epistles,  may  be  applied 
with  equal  propriety  to  these  same  practical  errors 
in  every  age  of  the  church,  although  the  particular 
forms  of  it  witli  which  he  contended  may  exist  no 
longer. 

It  does  not  appear  indeed,  in  the  Epistle  of 
James,  that  he  combats  this  tendency  in  precisely 
these  forms,  as  is  the  case  in  Paul's  writings.  Yet 
is  the  root,  the  essential  tendency,  the  same.  He 
is  obliged  to  instruct  his  readers  in  the  nature  of 
true  religion, — wherein  that  form  of  religion,  of 
which  they  made  so  much  account,  must  therefoi-e 
have  been  deficient.  It  is  only  a  different  form  of 
development  which  is  here  treated  of;  the  same 
radical  tendency  is  too  obvious  to  l)e  mistaken. 
There  were  two  leading  forms  of  this  tendency. 
One  of  these  consisted  in  an  undue  estimation  of 
outward  works  of  the  Law.  The  other  exalted 
the  mere  knowledge  of  the  Law,  of  the  true  God 


30 

and  of  ^Yllat  pertains  to  his  worship,  into  the  prin^ 
cipal  thing ;  and  on  the  ground  of  knowledge 
merely, — of  the  mere  profession  of  belief,  of  faith 
simply  as  an  act  of  the  understanding, — claimed 
superiority  over  the  Gentiles,  although  the  course 
of  life  by  no  means  corresponded  to  this  knowledge 
and  outward  profession.  Paul  likewise  combats, 
in  the  second  chapter  of  the  Epistle  to  the  Ro- 
mans, this  false  reliance  on  mere  knowledge  of  the 
Lavv\  Of  the  same  character  was  that  dead  learn- 
ing in  the  Scriptures,  such  as  Christ  condemned  in 
the  Pharisees,  who  thought  that  in  them  they  had 
eternal  life,  and  yet  would  not  be  directed  by  them 
to  him  who  alone  could  bestow  eternal  life.  The 
consequence  was,  that  each  one  was  anxious  to  gain 
currency  for  his  own  religious  views,  to  set  himself 
up  as  a  teacher  for  others,  without  first  taking  care 
to  mould  his  own  character  in  conformity  Avith  di- 
vine truth.  Hence  arose  the  contests  between  these 
would-be  teachers ;  another  form  of  that  bias  to 
the  external  and  the  literal,  but  s])ringing  from 
the  same  root  as  those  before  described, — no  less 
capable  of  co-existing  with  an  ungodly  life,  and  of 
serving  as  a  support  for  it. 

The  question  now  arises, — does  the  false  idea  of 


31 

faith  and  the  over-estimation  of  mere  f\iith,  which 
James  opposes  in  this  Epistle,  belong  also  to  this 
same  radical  tendency ;  or  are  Ave  to  regard  it  as 
something  different,  and  derived  from  another 
source  ?  Do  we  find  here  so  clear  a  reference  to 
the  Pauline  idea  of  faith,  as  to  make  the  conclusion 
necessary,  that  the  doctrine  of  justification  by  faith, 
as  taught  by  Paul,  had  been  misunderstood  and 
misapplied  in  these  churches  ?  Some  might  have 
imagined,  that  they  could  glory  in  justification 
solely  by  faith  in  the  Redeemer,  while  they  con- 
tinued to  live  in  the  practice  of  sin.  Against  such 
misunderstanding  and  perversion,  Paul  himself 
seeks  to  guard  his  doctrine,  in  many  passages  of 
the  Epistle  to  the  Romans.  In  later  times, — when 
the  doctrine  which  Paul  made  it  his  especial  object 
to  maintain  in  opposition  to  Judaism  and  judaizing 
teachers,  had  been  re-established  in  its  rights  by 
Luther,  in  opposition  to  a  Jewish  spirit  which  had 
once  more  crept  into  the  church ;  there  then  fol- 
lowed a  new  service  of  the  letter,  a  new  phase  of 
this  tendency  to  outward  forms,  and  again  the 
connection  between  faith  and  life  was  rent  asunder. 
Much  w^hich  James  says  of  this  tendency  in  his 


32 

day,  might  be  applied  to  this  case  with  equal  pro- 
priety. 

This  question,  whether  James  is  here  contending 
against  a  misapprehension  of  the  Pauline  doctrine, 
or  has  no  reference  whatever  to  it, — is  by  no 
means  necessarily  connected  with  the  question  of 
the  relation  of  Paul's  teaching  to  that  of  James. 
James  might  have  intended  to  oppose  a  misunder- 
standing of  Paul's  doctrine, — nay,  even  the  doctrine 
itself,  if  he  had  first  met  with  it  in  this  erroneous 
form,  without  previous  understanding  with  Paul 
in  regard  to  his  object ;  and  yet  a  jDerfect  harmony 
might  be  shown  to  exist  between  the  two  methods 
of  exhibiting  truth,  each  serving  as  the  comple- 
ment of  the  other.  For  it  may  easily  happen, 
when  one  man  has  formed, — in  accordance  with 
his  peculiar  course  of  training,  and  the  bearing  of 
the  counter-view  which  is  before  his  mind, — his 
own  peculiar  mode  of  conceiving  and  stating  a 
truth ;  that  the  very  opposition  made  to  it  by 
another,  conceiving  the  same  truth  from  a  different 
point  of  view,  may  show  their  essential  agree- 
ment,— what  was  intended  to  counteract  serving 
only  to  explain  and  complete.  Thus  a  representa- 
tion of  Christian  truths,  even  if  called  forth  by  op- 


33 

positiou  to  the  peculiarly  Pauline  form  of  doctrine, 
niiglit  have  found  place  as  a  completing  link,  in 
that  collection  of  writings  containing  the  original 
])nre  revelation  of  Christian  truth.  Both  these 
tonus  of  conception  and  teaching  might  constitute 
parts  of  tbe  same  whole,  as  being  mutually  com- 
pletive, in  the  one  revelation  of  the  Holy  Spirit 
through  different  human  organs  inspired  by  him. 
Their  relation  to  each  other  must  therefore  be  es- 
pecially considered  hereafter.""''' 

Now  although  it  is  possible  that  such  a  form  of 
externalizing,  as  the  one  we  have  mention^l,  might 
attach  itself  to  the  Pauline  doctrine,  and  though, 
as  we  have  seen,  this  was  afterwards  actually  the 
case ;  the  question  still  remains,  whether  we  are 
justified  in  assuming  this  in  regard  to  the  par- 
ticular churches  brought  to  our  knowledge  in  this 
Epistle.  It  w^as  in  churches  like  these,  farmed 
among  Jews  and  exclusively  of  Jewish  converts, 
that  a  perversion  of  the  Pauline  doctrine  was  most 
unlikely  to  arise ;  inasmuch  as  the  Pauline  stand- 
point was  one  with  which  they  had  nothing  in 
common.  The  Pauline  view  of  faith  presupposes 
the  strongly  marked  distinction  between  Law  and 


Gospel,  a  doctrinal  position  opposed  to  legal  right- 
eousness, to  tlie  merit  of  one's  own  works.  Oppo- 
sition to  tlie  Jewish  tendency  to  externals  Avas  the 
precise  ground  on  which  it  planted  itself;  and 
where  that  tendency  prevailed,  a  perverted  form 
of  this  view  could  as  little  gain  admission  as  the 
view  itself. 

But  to  resume  our  question :  may  not  this  ^^ar- 
ticular  error, — the  false  idea  of  faith  and  over-esti- 
mation of  mere  faith, — which  James  opposes,  be 
also  traced  back  to  the  same  radical  tendency? 
Let  us  c*ly  -compare  what  precedes  and  what  fol- 
lows the  discussion  of  this  topic  in  the  second 
chapter.  It  is  preceded  (chap,  i.)  by  a  rebuke 
of  those  who  founded  an  imaginary  claim  on  the 
mere  hearing  of  the  word,  on  the  mere  knowledge 
of  it,  without  holding  themselves  bound  to  practise 
it ;  to  which  is  added  the  rebuke  of  a  mere  fan- 
cied and  seeming  service  of  God.  What  now  is 
this  but  that  very  same  spirit  of  reliance  on  the 
external,  which  manifests  itself  in  a  mere  ad- 
herence to  certain  articles  of  faith, — faith  in  the 
one  true  God,  the  Messiah, — and  on  this  ground 
alone  claims  to  be  righteous,  without  recognizing 
the   demands   of  this   faith   upon   the  life?     As 


35 


knowledg-e  and  practice  are  at  war  with  each 
other,  so  are  faith  and  life.  A  merely  theoretical 
faith  corresponds  exactly  to  a  merely  theoretical 
knowledg-e.  The  same  man,  who  satisfies  himself 
with  being-  able  to  discourse  much  of  the  law 
without  obeying-  it,  is  also  the  one  who  makes  a 
boast  of  his  faith,  without  holding  himself  bound 
to  the  practice  of  that  which  faith  requires.  The 
same  man  who  finds  the  essence  of  religion  in  cer- 
tain external  works,  and  claims  to  be  a  true  wor- 
shipper of  God  merely  on  the  g-round  of  professing 
the  true  relig'ion,  is  the  one  also  who  claims  to  be 
accounted  righteous  through  a  faith  which  pro- 
duces no  works.  If  we  turn  now  to  what  follows 
(chap,  iii.),  we  find  that  James  is  here  rebuking 
those  who  were  ever  r.eady  to  exalt  themselves 
into  teachers  of  others ;  but  who,  by  teaching 
what  they  did  not  practice,  made  themselves  the 
more  liable  to  condemnation.  What  then  is  this 
but  that  same  radical  tendency  over  again  ?  And 
on  what  ground  should  we  be  justified  in  rending 
the  intermediate  passage  from  its  connection,  and 
making  it  refer  to  something  else,  the  explanation 
of  which  must  be  sought  elsewhere  than  in  this 
one  radical  tendency  ? 


36 


It  is  true,  that  in  the  manner  cf  meeting  these 
errors,  which  we  will  now  further  consider,  James 
is  disting-uished  in  a  peculiar  way  from  Paul.  It  is 
the  more  practical  man  in  contrast  with  the  more 
systematic ;  the  man  to  whose  wholly  Jewish  de- 
velopment, faith  in  Christ  was  superadded  as  the 
crown  and  completion, — in  contrast  with  him, 
whose  faith  in  Christ  took  the  form  of  direct  op- 
position to  his  earlier  Jewish  views,  as  the  centre 
of  a  wholly  new  creation.  Hence  with  James, 
opposition  to  error  takes  more  the  form  of  single 
propositions  and  exhortations ;  with  Paul  it  is  a 
connected  view,  in  which  all  proceeds  from  one 
central  point.  With  James  the  reference  to  Christ 
appears  only  as  one  particular  among  others,  a 
peculiarity  especially  objected  to  this  Epistle,  as 
if  Christ  were  not  to  be  found  in  it ;  while  with 
Paul,  on  the  contrary,  the  chief  object  is  to  exalt 
Christ,  who  is  everywhere  placed  foremost,  and  is 
everywhere  represented  as  the  centre  of  the  whole 
life,  from  whom  all  is  derived,  to  whom  all  is  re- 
ferred. But  yet,  in  these  single  propositions  and 
admonitions  of  James,  we  are  able  to  trace  the 
higher  unity  lying  at  the  basis;  and  can  show  that 
all  have  reference  to  Christ  as  the  living  centre, 


37 

even  thougli  lie  is  not  expressly  named.  There 
may  be  a  form  of  moral  development,  wliicli  re- 
ceives its  true  light  and  its  true  significance  through 
reference  to  Him  as  its  centre  and  source,  although 
he  is  not  expressly  recognized  by  name  ;  and  his 
name  may  be  often  on  the  lips,  while  yet  the 
whole  inward  character  has  formed  itself  without 
reference  to  Him.  In  this  light  we  must  now  en- 
deavor to  understand  the  controversial  and  ad- 
monitory passages  of  this  Epistle. 

The  churches  to  whom  it  was  addressed  con- 
sisted of  rich  and  poor ;  and  undoubtedly  the 
latter  were  the  more  numerous  class  among  the 
Christians.  We  know  that  the  Gospel  everywhere, 
and  especially  among  the  Jews,  found  freer  entrance 
with  the  poor  and  lowly  than  among  the  rich  and 
powerful.  Not  that  riches  in  themselves  exclude 
from  the  kingdom  of  God,  or  necessarily  form  a 
hindrance  to  faith  in  the  Gospel.  When  Christ 
says,  that  it  is  easier  for  a  camel  to  go  through  a 
needle's  eye,  than  for  a  rich  man  to  enter  into  the 
kingdom  of  God,  he  means  such  as  he  who  gave 
occasion  to  these  words  ;  those  to  whom, — though 
perhaps  unconsciously, — the  earthly  is  the  highest 
good ;  whose  treasure  being  on  earth  cannot,  there- 


38 

fore,  be  in  heaven  ;  wliose  heart  belongs  to  the 
earth  where  their  treasure  is,  and  is  therefore  far 
fi'om  that  direction  towards  heaven,  without  which 
no  one  can  ever  share  in  its  blessedness.  Indeed 
he  himself  adds  in  the  same  connection,  that  al- 
though the  salvation  of  a  rich  man  is  impossible 
with  men,  i.  e.  by  mere  human  means,  yet  with 
God  all  is  possible.  He  would  say  by  this,  that 
divine  help  is  needful,  in  order  that  riches  may  not 
prove  a  hindrance  to  the  attainment  of  the  king- 
dom of  God.  This  then  is  the  import  of  the 
words;  not  that  riches  in  themselves  are  a  hin- 
drance to  this  object,  but  that  misdirection  of  the 
affections  into  which  the  rich  man  more  than 
others  is  liable  to  fall.  The  rich  should  be  awa- 
kened to  a  consciousness  of  this,  and  should  be  in- 
cited by  a  sense  of  the  difficulties  inherent  in  his 
case,  to  apply  to  God  for  the  strength  which  he 
needs  ;  that  even  while  in  j)ossession  of  all  earthly 
riches,  he  may  still  keep  his  treasure  in  heaven 
and  his  heart  directed  thither.  In  this  Epistle 
itself  we  learn  what  is  necessary  to  the  rich  for 
this  purpose.  Yet  though  riches  are  not,  in  them- 
selves, a  hindrance  to  participation  in  the  kingdom 
of  God,  still  it  was  often  the  case  among  the  Jews, 


39 

tliat  the  ricli  and  mighty  forgot  in  worldly  enjov- 
ments  the  higher  wants  of  the  inner  man  ;  lost  the 
fixed  consciousness  of  dependence  on  Him,  whose 
power  confers  and  disposes  all ;  imagining  that  they 
possessed  all  things,  they  had  no  room  left  for  the 
feeling  of  want  and  of  the  necessity  of  deliverance 
from  it.  Thus  too  in  the  Old  Testament,  the  rich, 
the  proud,  and  the  ungodly  are  often  ranked  to- 
gether as  of  one  class. 

But  every  external  situation  may  become,  ac- 
cording to  one's  temper  of  mind,  either  a  help  or 
a  hindrance  to  salvation  ;  and  nothing  can  here 
injure  or  promote  his  interests  independently  of 
his  own  will.  Thus  may  poverty  also, — that  phys- 
ical want  which  depresses  the  spiritual  nature, 
which  prevents  the  inner  man  from  awaking  to 
self-consciousness,  and  to  the  feeling  of  his  higher 
spiritual  wants, — prove  an  obstacle  to  the  attain- 
ment of  the  kingdom  of  God.  Poverty,  too,  has 
its  peculiar  dangers,  and  this  is  not  overlooked  in 
this  Epistle,  In  general,  however,  it  was  the  poor 
and  lowly,  pining  under  the  oppressions  of  the 
rich  and  powerful,  and  under  the  pressure  of  phys- 
ical want,  who  most  readily  felt  the  need  of  deliv- 
erance from  spiritual  want,  from  inward  poverty 


40 

of  soul.  On  this  feeling  of  physical  need,  could 
more  easily  be  engrafted  that  consciousness  of  the 
soul's  necessities,  through  which  they  might  be 
conducted  to  the  Saviour.  As  in  their  case,  there 
was  nothing  to  deceive  the  soul  into  a  seeming 
satisfaction  of  its  wants,  they  could  the  more  easily 
be  drawn  to  that  which  furnished  the  true  satis- 
fiiction  for  all  its  higher  necessities.  Moreover, 
the  poor  in  this  world  could  more  readily  than 
the  rich  attain  to  that  poverty  of  spirit,  to  which, 
as  Christ  says,  belongs  the  kingdom  of  Heaven. 
Thus  the  Gospel  found,  among  the  Jews,  a  readier 
reception  from  the  poor  than  from  the  rich  ;  and 
on  this  account,  Christians  were  reproachfully 
called  The  Poor.  We  do  not  mean  by  this,  that 
all  these  poor  who  received  the  Gospel,  had  been 
led  to  it  l)y  true  poverty  of  spirit,  and  had  thus 
been  prepared  to  receive,  as  poor  and  needy,  the 
true  riches  of  the  Gospel.  Among  them  too  was 
to  be  found  the  influence  of  that  carnal  mind 
which  prevailed  among  the  Jews, — begetting,  not 
the  true  hope  of  the  heavenward  directed  spirit, 
but  rather  the  expectation  of  a  recompense  foi- 
bodily  privations  in  the  imagined  carnal  enjoy- 
ments of  the  kingdom  of  Christ.     Now  the  faith 


41 

of  sucli,  if  we  choose  to  call  it  by  that  name,  had 
its  source  in  the  carnal  mind  of  the  natural  man  ; 
and  hence,  the  earlier  form  of  this  natural  man 
was  transferred  with  them  out  of*  Judaism  into  a 
professed  Christianity, — where  ifc  was,  as  we  shall 
see,  opposed  and  rebuked  by  James. 

As  the  poorer  and  lower  class,  the  Christians 
had,  as  we  have  intimated,  much  to  suffer  from  the 
persecution  and  oppression  of  the  powerful  and 
rich  ;  partly  on  account  of  their  religion,  partly  for 
the  promotion  of  selfish  interests,  their  religion 
serving  as  the  pretext.  The  rich  who  called  them- 
selves Christians  without  being  so  in  truth,  Avere 
infected  with  the  common  vice  of  the  rich  among 
the  Jews,  and  failed  in  the  exercise  of  love  and 
even  justice  towards  their  poorer  brethren  in  the 
faith.  Accordingly,  we  find  ih  this  Epistle  words 
of  consolation  and  encouragement  for  the  oppressed 
and  suffering,  and  of  rebuke  for  the  rich  both 
within  and  without  the  church. 


EXPOSITION 
OF  THE   EPISTLE 


Its  opening*  words  are  addressed  to  the  Suffer- 
ino-, — exhortino-   them   to  steadfastness 

"^  °  .      [Ch.  1.  2.  3 

and  submission.  "My  brethren,  count  it 
all  joy  when  ye  fall  intodivers  temptations."  The 
idea  of  temptation  is  a  comprehensive  one  in 
the  Scriptures.  By  it  is  desig-nated,  whatever 
may  become  an  obstacle  or  impediment  to  Chris- 
tian faith  and  Christian  virtue, — prosperity  and 
adversity,  the  worl^  without  and  the  world 
within ;  everything*  which,  thoug-h  it  may  in- 
deed occasion  the  overthrow  of  faith  and  virtue 
in  the  conflict,  thus  puts  them  to  the  test,  and 
may  therefore  serve  also  to  confirm  and  streng-th- 
en  them.  In  this  more  g-eneral  sense  it  might, 
in  itself  considered,  be  understood  here.  But 
it  is  evident  from  the  connection  that  here,  as  in 
many  other  passag-es,  are  meant  the  sufferings  by 


44 

which  the  Christian  life  is  tried.     Now  to  those 
who  sigh  under  sufferings  such  as  we    have  de- 
scribed, he  addresses  not  merely  the  exhortation, 
to  bear  them  patiently  in  the  prospect  of  future 
glory.    Far  more  than  this.     The  feeling  of  suffer- 
ing  should  lose   itself  in  joy.     They  should  do 
nothing  but  rejoice.     How  could  James  say  this  ? 
It  was  because  with  him  all  has  reference  to  what 
is  noblest  in  man,  what  constitutes  his  true  being, 
the  imperishable,  the  inner  man  as  it  is  termed  by 
Paul.    And  knowing  that  these  temptations,  right- 
ly used,  must  serve  for  the  improvement  of  the 
inner  man,  and  for  this  purj^ose  were  ordained  of 
God ;  he  therefore  calls  upon  Christians  not  to  be 
disquieted,  but  to  rejoice  in  these  sufferings,  bear- 
ing in  mind  the  end  which  they  must  promote  for 
the  children  of  God.     The  right  improvement  of 
suffering,  on  Christian  grounds,  is  therefore  presup- 
posed, as  indicated  by  James   in   the  succeeding 
words :    "  Knowing  that  the  trial  of  your  faitt 
woi'keth  patience."     It  is  here  implied,  that  faith 
has  its  appointed  i)rocess  of  development  and  puri- 
fication in  tliis  life, — a  process  consisting  in  an  un- 
ceasino:  conflict.     Faith  is  in  his  view  soinethinsf 
radically  different  from,  and  elevated  above,  every 


45 

other  governing  priucij^le  in  man  ;  sometliing  en- 
dued with  an  inward  divine  power ;  wliicli  must, 
however,  approve  itself  in  conflict  with  this  op- 
j)osing  power,  with  all  which  proceeds  from  the 
iiesh,  from  the  natural  man.  There  are  indeed 
manifold  trials  of  faith,  and  to  all  these  the  words 
of  James  apply.  But  it  is  the  conflict  with  exter- 
nal circumstances,  which  is  here  especially  meant. 
Here  then  is  it  to  be  tested,  whether  the  faith  is 
genuine,  deep-rooted  in  the  inner  life  ;  such  an  one 
as,  through  indwelling  divine  power,  is  able  to 
overcome  the  world.  The  opposite  case  is  pre- 
sented by  Christ,  in  what  he  says  of  the  stony 
ground  ;  where  indeed  the  seed  of  the  word  springs 
up  quickly,  but  soon  withers  because  it  has  no  sap 
(Luke  viii.  6)  ;  a  conviction  which  is  not  a  firm 
and  deeply  rooted  one,  and  in  time  of  temptation 
vanishes  away  (v.  13).  But  so  long  as  faith  ap- 
proves itself  in  this  warfare,  holds  out  in  the  con- 
flict with  the  world,  it  demonstrates  thereby  its 
divine  powei*.  The  test  becomes  an  attestation. 
From  the  victorious  contest  faith  comes  forth  with 
'1-  confirmed  constancy,  and  constancy  manifests 
itself  as  a  fruit  of  faith.  It  is  by  this  means  that 
the  Christian  first  learns  what  he  himself  possesses. 


46 

But  James  well  understood  tlie  character  of  the 
churches  whom  he  addi^essed ;  and   that 

Ch.  i.  4,  5.] 

among  them  tlie  idea  of  faith  was  liable 
to  the  j)erversion  of  which  we  have  spoken.  It  is 
eveiy where  his  aim  to  counteract  this  one-sided 
tendency  to  the  particular  and  the  external.  Hence 
he  adds,  that  even  if  faith  had  thus  approved  it- 
self as  steadfast,  in  these  outward  conflicts  with 
the  world,  yet  this  one  thing  alone  would  not  con- 
stitute the  Christian  life.  In  manifold  directions, 
must  faith  pervade  the  entire  life,  and  manifest  its 
power.  "  Let  steadfastness,"  he  adds  (or  as  Luther 
translates  it,  patience),  "  have  its  perfect  work." 
Luther  understood  this  of  time  ;  it  was  to  approve 
itself  as  perfect  by  persevering  even  to  the  end. 
But  from  the  connection  with  what  follows,  and 
from  the  whole  connection  and  course  of  thought 
in  the  Epistle,  we  should  rather  understand  it  thus  : 
To  the  faith  which  has  approved  itself  as  steadfost, 
must  correspond  all  the  works  pertaining  to  faith, 
the  entire  sum  of  the  acts  in  which  faith  expresses 
its  inward  character.  But  James,  in  reference  to 
the  unity  of  the  whole  Christian  life,  designates  the 
entire  Christian  course,  all  Christian  action,  as  one 
perfect  work, — as  must  be  i:he  case  in  oi-der  to 


47 


correspond  to  true  fiiitli.     Thus   we   can   rightly 
understand  what  he  immediately  adds :  "  that  ye 
may  be  perfect  and  entire,  wanting  nothing ;"  im- 
plying that  with  persevering  ftiith  connects  itself 
the  whole  sum  of  the  true  Christian  walk.     By 
completeness  is  not  meant  an  absolute  perfection, 
nowhere  to  be  found  in  the  Christian  life  on  earth ; 
but,  as  often  elsewhere  in  the  Scriptures,  all  which 
belongs  to  Christian  maturity,  to  what  Paul  terms 
Christian  manhood,— as  hj  wholeness  ("  entire") 
is  meant  the  exchision  of  whatever  would  mar  the 
Christian  life.    When  he  desires  that  they  may  be 
wanting  in  nothing,  he  has  in  mind  the  aggregate 
of  all  qualities,  powers,  and  capacities  which  Chris- 
tianity develops,  when  its  efficacy  is  fully  proved 
as  a  leaven  for  the  entire  nature  of  man.     Hence 
he  subjoins  a   direction,  intended   to    encourage 
them  under  the  consciousness  of  any  deficiency  in 
this  respect.      He   shows  them  what  they  must 
themselves  do,  if  they  would  attain  to  that  also, 
in  which  they  are  still  deficient.     What  he  might 
have  expressed  in  wholly  general  terms,  applicable 
to  everything  in  which  they  might  be  conscious 
of  deficiency,  he  applies  (with  his  usual  preference 
for  the   specific  over  the  general  idea)   to  that 


48 

point  especially  wherein  these  particular  churches 
might  feel,  or  ought  to  feel,  their  need.  Above 
all  things  was  needed  true  wisdom,  to  give  to  the 
whole  life  its  proper  reference  to  the  kingdom  of 
God.  Wisdom,  or  prudence  (for  which  in  the 
original  the  same  word  is  used, — the  prudence 
grounded  in  wisdom  and  subservient  to  it,  the 
prudence  of  wisdom,  of  Christian  love,  being  alone 
regarded  as  genuine)  is  by  our  Lord  himself  often 
held  up  as  the  chief  object  of  attainment.  But,  as 
already  remarked,  there  prevailed  in  these  churches, 
as  a  fruit  of  the  Jewish  spirit,  a  proneness  to  a 
vain  show  of  wisdom,  to  the  over-estimation  of 
mere  knowledge,  the  conceit  of  knowledge  and 
wisdom.  So  much  the  more  did  they  need  to  be 
admonished,  that  true  wisdom  is  based  upon  hu- 
mility ;  that  it  is  not  to  be  learned  in  the  schools 
from  Doctors  of  the  Law;  that  it  can  be  obtained 
only  from  the  fountain  of  eternal  light.  Hence 
James  adds  to  what  he  has  already  said,  "  If  any 
of  you  lack  wisdom,  let  him  ask  of  God,  that  giveth 
to  all  men  liberally  [with  simplicity],  and  upbraid- 
eth  not:  and  it  shall  be  given  him."  Thus  he 
counsels  them,  when  they  feel  the  consciousness  of 
their  deficiencies,  to  turn  to  God  in  prayer.     God  is 


49 

designated  as  he  who  gives  with  simplicity,  i.  e. 
out  of  pure  love,  for  the  mere  sake  of  giviiag, — 
simplicity  being  here  contrasted  with  a  liberality 
apportioned  and  limited  by  self-interest.  He  i^ 
lepresented  as  he  who  reproaches  no  one  with  his 
benefits,  but  who  is  ever  ready  still  to  give,  if  there 
only  exists  a  susceptibility  for  his  gifts.  They 
should  not  turn  then  to  such  teachers  as  hold  back 
from  them  a  part  of  the  truth,  impart  to  them 
grudgingly,  and  reproach  them  wdth  their  indebt- 
edness ;  but  to  the  love  of  a  Heavenly  Father,  who 
gives  without  measure  and  is  ever  ready  to  give. 

It  is  prayer,  therefore,  which  James  represents 
as  the  condition  required  of  the  believer,  in  order 
that  he  may  share  in  the  communication  from  that 
heavenly  fountain.  This  is  the  necessary  relation 
between  imparting  and  receiving  in  divine  things. 
God  alone  being  the  Creator  and  Bestower,  the 
human  spirit  can  here  only  hold  the  attitude  of  a 
recipient.  And  this  direction  of  the  spirit,  in  order 
to  receive  what  God  is  ready  to  impart,  consists  in 
]:)rayer.  The  direction  of  the  soul  towards  God  in 
the  feeling  of  personal  need,  and  in  the  conviction 
that  God  alone  can  and  will  satisfy  it,  the  longing 
towards  God  of  the  spirit  hmigpi-ing  and  thirsting 
3 


50 

after  wisdom, — this  is  [)rayer.  To  seek  tlie  truth 
from  •  God,  and  to  pray,  are  one  and  the  same 
thing.  The  whole  life  of  the  s])irit,  filled  with 
this  longing  and  impelled  hy  it  towards  God,  is 
pi-ayer.  So  in  those  words  of  Christ, — to  seek,  to 
knock,  in  order  to  find  the  hid  treasure,  and  to  pray, 
are  all  classed  tosrether :    "  Ask  and  it  shall  be 

o 

given  you,  seek  and  ye  shall  find,  knock  and  it 
shall  be  opened  unto  you."  (Matt.  vii.  7.) 

But  in  addressing  churches  so  ensnared  by  ten- 
dencies to  the  outward  in  relisrion,  it  was 

Ch.  i.  6-8.] 

all  the  more  necessary  to  warn  them 
against  this  in  respect  to  prayer  ;  which  only  then 
deserves  the  name,  when  it  is  the  voice  of  the  spirit 
itself,  breathed  from  its  inmost  depths ;  lest  they 
should  su])pose  prayer  in  words,  without  that  direc- 
tion of  the  soul  to  God,  to  be  all  that  was  required. 
This  warning  is  contained  in  the  following  words : 
"But  let  him  ask  in  faith,  nothing  wavering." 
Trust  in  God  is  here  represented  as  that  direction 
of  the  spirit,  from  which  prayer  must  proceed. 
To  the  eye  of  faith  God  must  be  present,  as  He 
to  whom  the  prayer  is  directed.  There  must  be 
the  assurance,  that  he  can  and  will  supply  thd 
wants  uttered  before  him,  in  ordei'  that  it  may  b€ 


51 

true  prayer,  prayer  of  tlie  heart  and  not  merely  of 
the  lips.  The  reason  is  immediately  added,  \vh}- 
pi'iiyer  of  the  opposite  character  will  not  be  heai'd. 
"  For  he  that  wavereth  is  like  a  wave  of  the  sen, 
driven  with  the  wind  and  tossed."  Thus  the  stead- 
fast direction  of  the  soul  to  God  is  essential  to 
prayer.  But  where  there  is  doubt,  there  this 
rulins:  bias  of  the  soul  towards  God  is  w^antinfy. 
When,  on  the  one  side,  the  soul  feels  itself  drawn 
towards  God,  and  trust  in  Him  begins  to  awaken  ; 
then  on  the  other,  the  w^orldly  tendency  asserts 
itself,  and  strives  to  check  the  budding  emotions 
of  faith  and  trust.  Hence  the  man,  who  is  drawn 
hither  and  thither  by  conflicting  inclinations,  is 
compared  to  the  wave,  driven  to  and  fro  by  storm 
and  flood.  James  represents  such  a  man  as  one 
who  is  at  variance  with  himself,  one  in  w^hom 
there  exist,  as  it  were,  two  souls  ;'"^  who  is  unstable 
in  all  his  ways,  fickle-minded,  unreliable  in  all  his 
actions.  Sucli  is  the  character  of  his  whole  life, 
and  his  prayer  answers  to  his  life.  In  this  it  is 
implied,  therefore,  that  prayer  must  he  in  con- 
sonance with  tlie  steadfast  direction  of  the  whole 

•*  Eng.  version,  double-minded. — Ta. 


52 

life  towards  God;  all  must  originate  in  one  and 
the  same  temper  of  heart. 

But  here  the  question  may  be  asked :  How  is 
this  faith  which  is  essential  to  prayer,  to  be  ob- 
tained ?  Is  one  'to  abstain  from  prayer,  because 
he  lacks  this  measure  of  faith?  But  as  in  the 
words  of  our  Lord  above  quoted,  it  is  the  neces- 
sary condition  on  which  every  gift  of  God  is  be- 
stowed, that  we  knock,  that  we  seek,  that  we  ask 
of  God  ;  most  surely  faith  is  to  be  included,  which 
is  the  gift  of  God,  and  always  represented  as  some- 
thing divinely  wrought  in  man.  He  who  is  con- 
scious of  his  lack  of  faith,  who  desires  to  believe 
more,  to  become  stronger  in  faith,  must  in  this 
also  seek  of  God  that  wherein  he  is  wanting.  As 
til  at  unhappy  father  in  the  Gospel  narrative,  of 
whom  believing  confidence  was  required  in  order 
to  the  healing  of  his  son,  cried  out  under  a  sense 
of  the  weakness  of  his  faith,  "  Lord,  help  my  unbe- 
lief!"  ;  so  will  the  feeling  of  that  want  of  which 
we  are  speaking,  of  that  lack  of  faith  which  stands 
opposed  to  true  prayer,  itself  impel  to  prayer  for 
strength  to  bt'li(n-e.  He  who  is  assaulted  by  doubts 
will  turn  his  back  upon  doubt, — upon  the  world 
which  threatens  to  ensnare  his  soul  in  unbelief. 


53 

and  will  look  to  God ;  turning  away  from  doubt, 
he  will  give  himself  to  prayer.  Thus  through 
prayer  will  faith  increase,  and  the  strengthened 
faith  will  in  its  turn  lend  new  power,  new  wings 
to  prayer. 

Thus  have  we  seen  how  James,  beginning  with 
the  exhortation  to  steadfastness  under  suf- 

[Ch.  i.9-11. 

ferings,  was  led  on  from  one  suggestion  to 
another.  Turning  now  his  thoughts  to  the  poor, 
who  constituted  a  majority  of  these  Christians,  and 
who  had  much  to  suffer  from  the  oppression  of  the 
rich,  he  addresses  to  them  the  consoling  words : 
"  Let  the  brother  of  low  degree  rejoice  [glory]  in 
that  he  is  exalted."  Instead  of  being  cast  down 
by  the  sense  of  his  poverty,  his  low  estate  in  re- 
spect to  earthly  relations,  the  Christian  should 
rather  feel  himself  raised  above  them,  by  the  con- 
sciousness of  an  exaltation  transcending  all  height 
of  worldly  honor  ;  of  that  di\dne  exaltation  which 
is  founded  in  the  divine  life,  in  the  dignity  of  the 
Sons  of  God.  This  glorying  he  enjoins,  with  no 
occasion  to  apprehend  self-exaltation;  for  the 
glory  here  spoken  of  is  not  one  which  man  owes 
to  his  own  powers  and  efforts ;  it  is  a  dignity  be- 
stowed on  him  by  God  alone.     This  glorying  is, 


54 

tlierefore,  the  very  opposite  of  all  pride  and  self- 
exaltation,  and  can  exist  only  in  connection  with 
true  humility.  But  as  this  dignity  is  not  adjudged 
to  the  poor  on  account  of  their  poverty,  so  are  the 
rich  by  no  means  excluded  from  it  by  their  riches  ; 
although  as  we  have  already  shown,  these  may  to 
many  become  a  hindrance  in  the  way  of  their  at- 
taining it.  To  the  rich,  too,  the  way  is  pointed 
out,  by  which  they  may  attain  to  that  high  dig- 
nity. "  Let  the  rich,"  says  James,  "  glory  in  that 
he  is  made  low."  That  is  :  by  humbling  himself 
on  account  of  that  which  passes  with  the  world  as 
great,  he  attains  to  the  consciousness  of  that  true 
dignity,  which  springs  only  from  a  sense  of  the 
nothingness  of  all  earthly  greatness.  By  this  con- 
viction of  the  worthlessness  of  his  earthly  riches, 
he  is  prepared  to  appropriate  as  his  own  the  true 
riches,  the  only  true  dignity.  Self-abasement  is 
the  path  to  true  exaltation.  So  long  as  the  rich 
man  prides  himself  upon  his  wealth,  and  fancies 
that  therein  he  possesses  the  true  riches,  the  feel- 
ing of  necessity  for  heavenly  possessions,  for  true 
greatness,  will  not  germinate  in  his  heart.  This 
very  feeling  of  need,  this  desire,  is  the  necessary 
condition  of  personal    participation.     Thus  poor 


55 

and  ricli  among  Christian  brethren,  must  be  united 
to  each  other  by  the  same  consciousness  of  equal 
diguit}^  James  then  goes  on  to  picture  the  vanity 
of  riches,  by  images  drawn  from  the  natural  scenery 
of  the  East.  Like  the  fresh  grass,  which  at  morn- 
ing stands  in  all  its  flowery  splendor,  but  under 
the  scorching  breath  of  the  south  wind  suddenly 
withers  and  dies,  so  will  the  rich  man  perish  in 
his  ways.  As  he  has  his  treasure  only  in  earthly 
things,  and  has  wholly  merged  himself  in  them,  to 
him  is  transferred  what  is  said  of  the  vanity  of 
those  ^possessions,  which  he  has  made  his  all. 

But  the  sufferings  of  the  oppressed  Christians  are 
ever  before  the  mind  of  James.  Having 
spoken  of  these  sufferings  as  trials  for 
the  verifying  of  their  faith,  he  now  extols  as  happy 
the  righteous  who  endures  temptation ;  since,  by 
thus  approving  himself,  he  would  win  the  victor's 
crown  of  eternal  life,  which  the  Lord  has  promised 
to  all  who  love  him.  But  how  shall  we  reconcile 
with  this  the  warning,  not  to  ascribe  temptations 
to  God,  which  James  immediately  adds  ?  Does  he 
not  regard  God,  as  having  himself  ordained  these 
sufferings  as  a  means  of  testing  faith  ?  But  there 
are  different  applications  of  this  term,  and  we  must 


56 

distinguisli  between  outward  and  inward  tempta- 
tion. The  difficulties  which  beset  one  from  with- 
out, may  serve  to  awaken  in  him  the  latent  power 
of  the  higher  life.  But  they  may  also  show  hi!> 
inward  weakness, — may  become  the  point  of  con- 
nection for  that  which  stands  opposed  to  the 
divine  life.  That  which  might  otherwise  have 
been  the  means  of  attesting  his  faith  or  Christian 
vu'tue,  through  his  own  fault  becomes  temptation 
to  unbelief  or  to  sin.  Thus  the  outward  temptation 
becomes  an  inward  one,  and  thereby  endangers  the 
soul.  When  Christ  bids  us  pray  :  Lead  us  not  into 
temptation,  this  can  certainly  be  no  other  than  in- 
ward temptation  ;  for  his  disciples  were  to  be  left 
behind,  in  the  midst  of  those  temptations  of  the 
world  which  should  serve  as  tests  of  their  faith.  The 
object  of  the  petition  must  have  been,  that  the  out- 
ward might  not  become  an  inward  temptation.  In 
like  manner,  James,  in  his  use  of  the  word,  passes 
from  one  of  these  related  ideas  to  the  othei'. 

But  he  must  have  found  special  reason  for  tliis 
warning  in  the  peculiar  state  of  these  churches ; 
and  the  explanation  is  to  be  sought  in  that  same 
spirit  of  externalizing,  of  which  we  have  ah-eady 
spoken.     As  this  spirit  shows  itself  in  the  conce}> 


57 

tion  of  what  is  good,  so  does  it  also  in  the  concep- 
tion of  sin.  At  no  time  have  there  been  wanting 
grounds  of  excuse  for  sin  ;  which  men  have  regai-d- 
ed  as  something:  cleavinor  to  them  from  without, 
and  have  sought  its  origin  in  merely  external 
causes,  instead  of  tracing  it  to  its  inward  source  in 
the  faulty  direction  of  the  will.  So  it  would  seem 
that  many  in  these  churches  excused  themselves, 
on  the  plea  that  they  were  in  subjection  to  a 
higher  power,  which  hurried  them  away  into  sin. 
The  Almighty,  whom  no  one  is  able  to  withstand, 
has  plunged  them  into  these  temptations.  To  this 
James  replies  :  "  Let  no  man  say  when  he  is  tempt- 
ed, I  am  tempted  of  God;"  for  as  God  cannot  be 
tempted  by  aught  that  is  evil,  being  elevated 
above  all  evil,  so  neither  from  him  can  temptation 
to  sin  proceed.  The  Holy  One  can  tempt  none  to 
sin.  He  then  lays  open  the  fountain  of  temptation 
in  man's  own  bosom,  and  describes  the  process  by 
which  the  sinful  tendency  gains  ground  in  progres- 
sive steps,  till  its  final  development  in  outward  act. 
The  source  of  temptation,  he  represents  as  lying  in 
those  desires  inherent  in  every  man,  by  which  he 
is  excited  and  led  away  ;  which  lie  in  wait  for  him, 
as  it  were,  but  which  he  has  power  to  withstand. 
3* 


58 

They  gain  strengtli  only  l)i'c;iu.-e  tliey  nre  not  re- 
sisted ;  because  he  who  might  subject  tliera  to  him- 
self, submits  liiniself  to  them.  Thus  prevailing, 
thus  I'ipened  into  fruit,  lust  bringeth  forth  sin; 
and  sin  completed  in  act  is  followed  l)y  death. 

We  are  by  no  means  to  infei',  as  is  clear  from 
the  connection  of  thought  in  this  passage,  that 
these  desires  are  not  in  their  own  nature  sinful ; 
or  that  the  prevailing  sinful  tendency  of  the  will 
would  not  involve  death,  even  if  it  should  find  no 
expression  in  outward  act,  as  though  all  turned  on 
the  outward  act  alone.  The  thought  is  this :  E\'il, 
from  the  first  breaking  foi-th  of  desire,  j)roceeds  on 
in  ascending  stages  of  development,  until, — over- 
powering all  the  opposing  influences  of  the  higher 
life, — it  is  consummated  in  act.  In  this  consum- 
mation in  act  is  shown  an  increased  strength  of  sin ; 
and  though  man  was  previously  able,  by  overcom- 
ing the  enticements  to  sin,  to  maintain  and  to  re- 
establish in  himself  the  true  life  ;  yet  now,  through 
sin  wdiich  has  gained  the  victory  over  him,  he  falls 
a  prey  to  death.  James,  therefoi'e,  warns  them 
a^'-ainst  indulging  in  such  false  and  delusive  ideas, 
as  that  God  can  be  the  author  of  evil. 

Ilavinc:  thus  directed  them  to  look  for  the  source 


of  temptation  in  themselves  alone,  and  warned 
them  against  supposing  that  temptations 
coald  come  from  God  ;  he  now  further 
opposes  to  this  delusion  the  thought, — that  only 
whatever  is  good,  whatever  is  true,  pioceeds  from 
Him.  As  he  is  the  Father  of  all  material  light, 
80  is  he  also  the  Father  of  all  spiritual  light.  With 
him,  therefore,  can  be  no  alternation  of  light  and 
darkness.  From  him,  the  uncliangealde  fountain 
of  light  raised  above  all  darkness,  nothing  whicli 
tempts  to  evil  can  proceed.  As  light  and  all  that 
is  good,  so  darkness  and  all  that  is  evil,  are  uni- 
formly classed  together  in  the  Holy  Scriptures. 

From  this  general  thought,  James  now  passes 
again  to  its  application  to  himself  and  his 
readers.  To  God  alone  were  they  indebted 
also  for  the  dawning  of  the  divine  light  on  them, 
and  for  the  new  life  thereby  imparted.  "  Of  his 
own  will  begat  he  us,  with  the  word  of  truth,  that 
we  should  be  a  kind  of  first  fruits  of  his  creatures." 
We  here  perceive  in  James,  as  in  Paul,  the  oppo- 
site of  the  Jewish  tendency  to  the  outward.  He 
presupposes  in  the  Christian  a  moral  transforma- 
tion, wrought  from  within.  The  word  of  truth, 
the  divine  power  of  the  Gospel,  is  that  whereby 


60 

tlie  new  liiglier  life  lias  been  produced.  He  too 
describes  this  as  sometliing  not  consequent  upon 
any  human  desert ;  all  are  indebted  for  it  to  the 
will  of  Him  from  whom  all  good  proceeds.  He 
too  characterizes  this  moral  transformation  as  a 
new  creation.  Those  in  whom  it  was  first  effected, 
he  describes  as  the  first-born  of  this  ci-eation ; 
since  from  them  it  should  continue  to  spread,  till 
its  final  completion  in  a  world  pervaded  and  trans- 
formed by  the  divine  principle  of  life. 

But  it  is  ever  the  manner  of  James  to  pass  at  once 
froin  the  general  to  the  particular ;  a  trait 

Ch.i.  19-21.] 

originating  partly  in  his  oavii  personal 
character,  partly  from  the  peculiar  practical  neces- 
sities of  those  to  whom  he  was  writing.  He  knew 
their  disposition  to  content  themselves  with  the 
general  thought,  without  making  an  application 
of  it  to  their  own  life.  To  incite  them  to  this 
was  his  constant  aim.  He  therefore  proceeds  at 
once  to  show  how  the  divine  word,  received  into  the 
soul  as  tho  generative  principle  of  the  new  creation, 
must  manifest  itself  in  the  course  of  life.  Neither 
does  this  take  the  form  of  a  mere  generality  in 
liis  mind ;  but  he  passes  directly  to  the  special  ap- 
plication most  opposed  to  the  practical  errors  of 


61 


these  cliurclies.  We  have  already  remarked  on 
the  propensity  among  them  to  assume  the  office 
of  teacher, — the  inclination  to  talk  much  and  to  do 
little  ;  how  they  were  thus  led  to  pass  judgment 
lightly  upon  others,  to  revile  them,  and  how  every 
])a3sion  found  herein  its  nourishment.  Against 
this  he  warns  them  in  tke  words  :  "  Wherefore,  my 
beloved  brethren,  let  every  man  be  swift  to  hear, 
slow  to  speak,  slow  to  wrath."  One  extreme  must 
be  driven  out  by  the  other.  There  is  a  self-willed 
silence,  and  there  is  a  self-willed  forwardness  to 
speak.  He  who  is  inclined  to  be  too  inert  and 
passive,  to  liold  his  peace  when  he  ought  to  speak 
out  boldly,  must  be  exhorted  not  to  give  himself 
thus  wholly  to  silence,  but  to  be  willing  to  speak 
when  duty  requires.  But  James  is  dealing  with 
those,  among  whom  the  very  oj)posite  fault  pre- 
vailed; those  who  lacked  the  sobriety,  patience, 
and  humility,  to  hear  before  they  spoke ;  and  of 
ct)urse  he  must  make  use  of  the  opposite  exhorta- 
tion. As  a  warning  against  the  temptation  to 
anger,  easily  furni.<hed  by  over-hasty  speaking,  he 
tells  them  that  passion  is  least  of  all  adapted  to 
effect  the  work  of  piety.  "  For  the  wrath  of  man 
worketh  not  the  righteousness  of  God."   From  the 


62 

particular  instance  he  now  returns  to  the  general 
thought  with  which  he  started,  placing  the  two  in 
close  connection  witli  eachi  other.  As  passion 
orces  man  towards  the  outward,  withdrawing  him 
from  the  calm,  ever-deepening  inner  life  of  the 
spirit,  and  banishing  again  from  the  heart  that 
generative  principle  of  the  new  creation,  the  Word 
of  God,  instead  of  allowing  it  to  penetrate  moi-e 
and  more  the  inner  spiritual  nature  :  he  therefore 
counsels  them  to  purify  themselves  from  all  that 
is  evil,  all  excrescences  of  the  inward  life  which 
passion  nourishes,  and  in  meekness  to  suffer  the 
word  implanted  in  their  hearts  to  take  deeper  and 
deeper  root  therein.  So  shall  they  attain  to  the 
salvation  of  the  soul,  through  the  power  of  this 
word  thus  penetrating  more  and  more  their  entire 
life.  "  Wherefore"  (namely,  because  anger  is  in 
contrariety  to  the  divine  righteousness,  and  is  the 
rank  soil  of  every  evil  thing) — "  lay  apart  all  iilth- 
iness  and  superfluity  of  naughtiness,  and  receive 
with  meekness  the  engrafted  word  which  is  able 
to  save  your  souls."  James,  it  is  true,  is  address- 
ing those  in  whom  the  ground  of  salvation  was 
already  laid ;  but  he  presupposes  also,  that  they 
can  only  become  partakers  of  salvation,  by  con- 


63 

tinuing  to  build  ou  that  foundation,  and  to  yield 
submission  to  tbe  word  wliicli  tbey  liave  once  re- 
ceived, tliat  they  may  exjDerience  in  themselves 
its  purifying  and  transforming  power. 

Having  constantly  in  mind  the  practical  errors 
under  which  these  churches  were  suffer-   ^^^  .  _  „. 

[Oh.  1.  22-2-1. 

ing,  he  comes  back  again  and  again  to  the 
warning  against  that  delusive  tendency  to  exalt  the 
outward.  He  exhorts  them,  not  to  imagine  that  it 
is  sufficient  to  Imve  a  mere  knowledge  of  the  word, 
to  be  intellectually  conversant  with  it.  He  warns 
them  against  the  self-deception,  that  by  such  a 
knowledge  merely  they  had  complied  with  what 
he  has  just  said,  had  really  received  the  word  into 
their  life,  had  thus  become  Christians.  The  essen- 
tial point  is,  the  practical  application  of  the  word 
to  the  life.  Herein  must  it  manifest  its  efficacy, 
as  a  principle  which  works  from  within  upon  the 
outward  character,  and  takes  possession  of  the  en- 
tire life.  He  says  to  them  :  "  But  be  ye  doers  of 
the  word  and  not  hearers  only,  deceiving  your 
own  selves."  He  sets  this  in  a  clear  light  by  a 
familiar  illustration.  He  compares  him  who  re- 
ceives the  word  with  the  understanding  only, 
without  applying  it  to  the  life,  to  one  who,  having 


64 

seen  bis  image  in  a  mirror,  goes  away  and  imme- 
diately forgets  how  lie  looked.  Thus  he  win 
merely  busies  himself  in  a  superficial  way  with  the 
divine  word,  may  have  learned  indeed  what  is  the 
true  aspect  of  his  life  in  relation  to  the  divine  Law 
and  its  demands.  A  light  has  dawned  upon  his 
mind,  as  to  what  he  is  and  should  be.  But  turn- 
ing away  again  from  the  divine  word,  hurried 
along  by  the  current  of  life  and  by  his  own  pas- 
sions, he  immediately  forgets  it  all  like  him  who 
just  saw  hi's  image  in  the  mirror,  and  all  is  of  no 
avail.  "  For  if  any  one  be  a  hearer  of  the  word 
and  not  a  doer,  he  is  like  unto  a  man  beholding 
his  natural  face  in  a  glass  ;  for  he  beholdeth  him- 
self, and  goeth  his  way,  and  straightway  forgetteth 
what  manner  of  man  he  was." 

With  him  who  thus  contents  himself  with  a  mere 

superficial  study  of  the  word  of  God,  in 
ch.i.  26.]       ^  -^  .  '   . 

whom  knowledge  and  j)ractice  are  at  vari- 
ance with  each  other,  James  now  contrasts  one  who 
has  looked  into  the  depths  of  the  divine  Law,  and 
lives  in  that  contemplation.  He  here  marks  the 
distinction  between  the  law  of  the  letter,  in  its 
nature  external,  and  that  which  Christianity  has 
made  the  inner  law,  the  law  of  the  spirit,  received 


65 

into  the  inner  life.  This  he  calls  the  perfect  law, 
in  contrast  with  the  law  of  Moses  viewed  only  in 
its  externality,  which  as  such, — that  is,  as  a  law  of 
the  letter  merely, — can  bring  nothing  to  perfec- 
tion, but  leaves  everything  as  it  found  it.  The 
former  he  calls  the  law  of  liberty,  inasmuch  as  it 
makes  him  free  who  has  received  it  into  his  inner 
life,  in  contrast  with  the  bondage  of  the  letter.  To 
this  law  one  cannot  hold  the  relation  of  a  mere 
externtil  hearer.  Whoever  has  actually  received 
it  into  himself  as  the  perfect  law,  the  law  of  liber- 
ty, is  constrained  by  an  inward  impulse  to  mani- 
fest it  in  the  outward  life.  "  But  whoso  looketh 
into  the  perfect  law  of  liberty,  and  continueth 
therein,  he  being  not  a  forgetful  hearer,  but  a 
doer  of  the  word,  this  man," — he  adds,— "  shall  be 
blessed  in  his  deed." 

But  how  does  this  accord  with  Paul's  represen- 
tation, of  the  characteristic  difference  between 
the  relations  established  by  the  Law  and  the 
Gospel,  when  he  gives  as  the  watchword  of  the 
former,  "  Do  this  and  thou  shalt  live"  (who  does 
it,  he  shall  live  therein)  ;  and  of  the  latter,  "  The 
just  shall  live  by  faith  ?"  There  would  indeed 
])e   a  contradiction  here,  if  Jaiiu^s  wew.  speaking 


of  tlie  Law  in  tlie  same  sense  as  Paul, — if  he 
meant  tliat  by  works  of  law  one  could  merit  salva- 
tion. But  this  is  far  from  James'  ])ur})ose.  lie  is 
speaking  of  the  Law,  as  made  by  faith  in  Christ  a 
living  inward  principle  ;  of  that  Law  as  Christ  un- 
folds it  in  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount,  and  which 
presupposes  and  includes  in  itself  faith,  hi  this 
view  he  may  justly  say,  that  one  must  feel  himself 
})lessed  in  the  practice  of  this  Law,  and  in  this 
way  alone  can  become  a  partaker  of  that  blessed- 
ness which  Christ  imparts  to  the  believer.  It  is 
precisely  the  same  thing  as  Christ  himself  says,  at 
the  close  of  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount :  "  Who- 
soever heareth  these  sayings  of  mine  and  doeth 
them,  I  will  liken  him  unto  a  wise  man,  "which 
l)uilt  his  house  upon  a  rock."  Certainly,  to  this 
Paul  also  would  have  assented.  To  this  certainly 
corresponded,  his  own  manner  of  teaching, — that 
only  he  can  experience  in  himself  the  divine  power 
of  faith,  can  be  blessed  through  faith,  who  fur- 
nishes the  evidence  of  it  in  his  life  ;  faith  being  in 
his  view  that  inward  principle,  which  works  from 
within  the  transformation  of  the  whole  life,  that 
faith  which  works  by  love;  as  he  himself  says: 
"  Thou2rh  I  had  all  faith,  so  that  I  could  remove 


67 

iiiountains,  and  have  not  charity,  I  am  nothing."" 
( I  Cor.  xiii.  2.) 

James  now  passes  once  more  from  the  general  to 
the  particular,  to  the  special  application 
of  what  he  has  just  said  on  this  principle 
of  active  obedience.  The  case  which  he  presents,  as 
requiring  special  notice,  is  selected  with  a  view  to  the 
peculiar  circumstances  and  ftxults  of  these  churches. 
Writing  to  other  churches  he  might  have  selected 
other  examples.  '^  If  any  man  among  you  seem  to 
be  religious,  and  bridleth  not  his  tongue,  but  de- 
ceiveth  his  own  heart,  this  man's  religion  is  vain." 
James  takes  for  his  starting-point  the  Christian 
principle,  that  religion  must  embrace  the  whole 
life.  Hence  he  calls  that  religion  merely  imagi- 
nary, seeming,  unreal,  which  allows  the  continuance 
of  the  moral  defects  originally  predominant  in  the 
character ;  as,  for  example,  in  the  application  to 
these  cliurclies,  that  tendency  to  passionate  anger, 
that  want  of  control  over  the  tongue.  Of  those 
who  continued  to  live  on  thus  as  before,  and  yet 
made  pretensions  to  religion,  James  says  that  the}- 
deceived  tliemselves,  that  their  religion  was  vain. 
Here  again,  in  contrasting  with  this  that  religion 
which  is  genuine,  showing  itself  in  tlie  life,  he  ad- 


68 

duces  the  particular  acts  in  uliich  sucb  a  religion 
must  manifest  itself;  in  this,  too,  making  tlie  se- 
lection with  special  reference  to  the  circumstances 
of  these  churches.  To  take  the  part  of  the  orphan 
and  the  widow,  to  protect  them  against  the  pride 
and  oppression  of  the  rich, — this  is  pure  and 
genuine  religion.  "  Pure  religion  and  undefiled 
before  God  and  the  Father,  is  this,  to  visit  the 
fatherless  and  widows  in  their  affliction,  and  to 
keep  themselves  unspotted  from  the  ^Yorld."  He 
thus  closes  again  with  the  general;  the  injunc- 
tion, to  keep  one's  self  pure  from  all  defilement 
})y  the  world,  having  reference  to  the  whole 
Christian  life.  He  does  not  mean  that  exter- 
nal, often  falsely  conceived  opposition  to  the 
world,  which  would  hinder  the  Christian  from 
servinsr  as  the  true  salt  and  the  true  leaven  for  the 

o 

world.  This  would  stand  in  direct  contradiction 
with  that  course  of  active  labors  in  the  world, 
wliich  James  everywhere  enjoins  in  this  Epistle 
He  means  that  one  should  keep  himself  inwardly 
unspotted  from  the  world ;  that  while  externally 
acting  upon  it,  he  should  guard  himself  against  tlio 
infection  of  its  impurity ;  that  he  should  remain 
su[)eiior  to  the  world,  pure  from  the  world  whilst 


69 

acting  upon  it.  There  are  two  things,  therefore, 
essential  to  true  religion  and  inseparable  in  it: 
viz.  conflict  against  the  evil  which  is  in  the  world, 
the  practical  exercise  of  love ;  and  in  connection 
therewith,  the  keeping  oneself  inwardly  pure  from 
all  ungodliness  that  reigns  in  the  world.  The 
former,  moreover,  cannot  truly  subsist  except  in 
connection  with  the  latter. 

We  have  already  spoken  of  the  distinction  be- 
tween the  lare^e  numbers  of  the  poor  and 

^  .  .       [Ch.ii.l. 

the  much  smaller  number  of  the  rich,  in 
these  churches.  Diversities  and  inequalities  of  con- 
dition, originating  in  the  natural  organization  and 
relations  of  society,  were  not  to  be  done  away  by 
Christianity,  but  rendered  less  grievous ;  were  to  be 
equalized  by  the  common  bond  of  love,  and  made  a 
c:round  for  the  exercise  of  this  Christian  love.  If  it 
be  true,  (a  matter  on  which  we  cannot  decide  with 
certainty)  that  the  first  glow  of  Christian  enthu- 
siasm gave  rise  for  the  time  to  a  proper  commu- 
nity of  goods ;  yet  w^as  this  a  state  of  things 
adapted  only  to  that  period,  when  the  new  feeling 
of  fellowship  with  each  other  in  the  divine  life 
burst  forth  with  a  power,  which  for  a  while  swal- 
lowed up    all  individual   distinctions.     But  this 


70 

could  not  be  permanent.  The  inequalities  founded 
in  nature  must  at  length  re-appear,  and  the  indi- 
vidual and  personal  be  again  allowed  its  just 
claims.  Only  the  feeling  should  still  remain, 
which  united  all  as  one  heart  and  one  soul ;  and 
through  the  love  that  cared  for  the  wants  of  all- 
made  as  it  were  a  common  stock  of  the  possessions 
of  all.  But  this  was  now  wanting  in  these  churches ; 
and  the  differences  of  rank  and  wealth  were  no 
longer  repressed  by  the  consciousness  of  that 
higher  Christian  equality.  Hence,  in  opposition 
to  such  an  unchristian  aristocracy,  James  says : 
"  My  brethren,  have  not  the  faith  of  our  Lord 
Jesus  Christ  the  Lord  of  Glory,  with  respect  of 
persons."  He  thus  expresses  the  contradiction, 
between  the  disposition  to  estimate  the  worth  of 
believers  by  such  temporal  advantages,  and  faith 
in  Jesus  as  the  Lord  of  Glory !  To  him  who  ac- 
knowledges Jesus  as  such,  the  one  dignity  of  be- 
longing to  him  must  seem  so  great,  that  all  per- 
sonal advantages  of  an  earthly  nature  must  be  less 
than  nothing  in  conipaiison.  His  glory,  in  which 
all  believers  are  called  to  participate,  far  outshines 
all  earthly  splendor. 

He  then  proceeds  with  a  more  specific  application 


-71 

of  this  reproof.  "  For  if  there  come  unto  your  as- 
sembly a  man  with  a  gold  ring,  in  goodly 
apparel,  and  there  come  in  also  a  poor  man, 
in  vile  raiment :  and  ye  have  respect  to  him  tliat 
weareth  the  gay  clothing,  and  say  unto  him.  Sit  thou 
here  in  a  good  place  ;  and  say  to  the  poor,  Stand 
thou  there,  or  sit  here  under  my  footstool :  are  ye 
not  then  partial  in  yourselves  [at  strife  with  your- 
selves], and  are  become  judges  of  evil  thoughts  ?"* 
The  Greek  word  which  we  have  translated  "  at  strife 
with  yourselves,"  indicates  a  state  in  which  solici- 
tude, doubt,  conflicting  thoughts,  arise  in  the  soul ; 
as  is  the  case  M^here  the  simplicity  of  faith  is  dis- 
turbed, and  discordant  aims,  worldly  thoughts, 
take  i^recedence  of  that  one  sole  interest  which 
should  be  all  in  all  to  the  Christian.  Here  then 
are  meant,  in  contrast  with  the  Christian  view  of 
the  equality  of  all  who  stand  related  in  Christian 
fellowship,  those  worldly  and  foreign  views,  which 
give  an  undeserved  deference  to  one,  while  they 
deny  to  another  the  respect  due  him  as  a  member 
of  the  same  community.  These  are  the  evil 
thoughts  of  which  he  speaks. 

He  now  goes  on  to  show  them,  from  the  history 

*  Those  who  judge  from,  or  under  the  influence  of,  evil  thoughts. — Ta. 


72 

of  tlie  spread  of  Chiistianity  at  tliis  very  time,  from 
tlie  livinp'  example  of  tlie  present,  Low 

Ch.  ii.  5, 6.]  ^  ^  /     .  ' 

entirely  sucli  a  way  of  judging  is  oppose(] 
to  the  Christian  stand-point.  He  appeals  to  the  fact, 
that  on  the  poor  pre-eminently  have  been  bestowed 
the  highest  dignity  of  the  Christian  calling,  the 
greatest  riches  in  faith,  the  heirship  of  the  kingdom 
of  Heaven.  And  they  despised  the  poor,  Y\'hom 
God  had  so  highly  exalted  !  "  Hearken,  my  be- 
loved brethren ;  Hath  not  God  chosen  the  poor  of 
this  world,  rich  in  faith,  and  heii-s  of  the  kingdom 
which  he  hath  promised  to  them  that  love  him  ? 
But  ye  have  despised  the  poor."  We  must  here 
remark  once  more,  that  when  James  here  speaks 
of  the  kingdom  of  God  as  promised  to  those  that 
love  him, — this  love  of  God,  in  his  sense  of  the 
words,  is  doubtless  to  be  understood  as  connected 
with  faith.  He  means  Christian  love  ;  which  pre- 
supposes the  revelation  of  the  redeeming  love  of 
God  in  Christ,  and  the  consciousness  of  this  love 
received  through  the  Holy  Spirit. 

In  contrast  with  these  poor,  among  whom  tlie 
callinsf  of  God  pre-eminently  found  ac- 

Ch.ii.6,7.]  °  -^         .  -^ 

cess,  he  places  the  rich  who  oppress  the 
Christians,  who  drag  them  before  the  judgment- 


73 

seat, — if  not  on  account  of  their  faith,  yet  for  the 
sake  of  extortion, — who  blaspheme  that  holy  name 
l>y  which  Christians  are  called.  "  Do  not  rich 
nuMi  oppress  you,  and  draw  you  before  the  judg- 
in 'ut-seats  ?  Do  they  not  blaspheme  that  worthy 
name  by  which  ye  are  called  ?"  We  suppose  that 
by  the  rich  here  are  meant,  such  of  the  rich  as 
were  opposers  of  Christianity.  James  makes  use 
of  the  well-known  fact,  that  w^hile  the  poor  more 
readily  received  the  Gospel,  the  proudly  rich 
showed  themselves  the  violent  enemies  of  Chris- 
tians and  of  Christianity.  It  is  possible,  indeed, 
though  this  would  be  less  suited  to  the  intended 
contrast,  that  rich  men  who  called  themselves 
Christians  are  meant ;  who  might  be  said  to  blas- 
pheme the  name  of  Christ,  through  the  scandal 
which  they  brought  upon  it  by  their  course  of  life. 
He  calls  on  them  to  consider,  how  entirely  such 
a  course  is  at  variance  with  the  essential 

[Ch.  ii.  8-13. 

})rinciple  of  the  divine  life, — viz.  with 
Love.  With  him,  too,  Love  is  the  fulfilling  of  the 
Law.  "  If  ye  fulfil  the  royal  law,  according  to  the 
Scriptures,  Thou  shalt  love  thy  neighbor  as  thy- 
self, ye  do  well.  But  if  ye  have  respect  to  per- 
sons, ye  commit  sin,  and  are  convinced  of  the  Law 
4 


74 

as  transgrfci!sors.''  But  he  was  dealing  with  per- 
sons ensnared  on  all  sides  in  the  outward  and  for- 
mal ;  who,  therefore,  among  the  transgressions  of 
the  Law  (which  they  could  not  comprehend  in  its 
full  majesty  and  stric^tness)  made  a  difference  in 
degree,  as  measured  by  an  external  standard  ;  and 
who,  judging  by  such  a  standard,  might  suppose  it 
easy  to  satisfy  the  claims  of  the  Law.  To  them 
such  a  23redominance  of  the  egoistic,  as  was  shown 
in  that  preference  of  the  rich,  and  that  contempt 
of  the  poor,  seemed  no  very  grievous  sin.  It'  was 
therefore  necessary  to  admonish  them  that  the 
Law,  as  an  expression,  in  one  indivisilde  wliole,  of 
the  divine  will  the  divine  holiness,  demands  al)- 
solute  obedience  ;  that  only  by  such  an  obedience 
can  one  be  justified,  and  that  in  every  single  act 
of  transgression  the  whole  Law  is  broken.  "  For 
whosoever  shall  keep  the  whole  Law,  and  yet  of- 
fend in  one  point,  he  is  guilty  of  all.  For  He  that 
said,  Do  not  commit  adultery ;  said  also,  Do  not 
kill,  j^ow  if  thou  commit  no  adultery,  }^et  if  thou 
kill,  thou  art  ))ec()me  a  transgressor  of  the  Law.'' 
Accordingly  in  applying  this  principle,  in  the 
sense  of  James,  to  the  special  case  here  spoken  of, 
we  must  say :  He  who,  in  this  one  thing,  permits 


75 

his  conduct  to  be  determined  l>y  tliat  selfishness 
which  is  in  conflict  Avith.  tlie  law  o?  love,  has 
thereby  violated  the  whole  Law.  He  lias  violated 
it  in  reference  to  its  substance,  as  the  expression 
of  the  divine  will  Avherein  all  is  of  equal  tlignity  ; 
and  in  reference  to  the  rulino:  motive  of  his  con- 
duct.  Self  in  opposition  to  Love. 

Does  James  then  mean,  that  in  judging  of  sinful 
agents  and  acts  no  diiferences  in  degree  can  be  ad- 
mitted ?  By  no  means.  It  is  only  necessai-y  t(^  dis- 
tinguish here  between  the  abstract  and  the  concrete, 
according  as  the  question  respects  the  principle  it- 
self in  the  unqualified  strictness  of  its  demands,  or 
the  varying  relations  which  human  agency  bears  to 
it ;  inasmuch  as,  while  all  must  acknowledge  them- 
selves guilty  before  the  Law,  there  may  be  grada- 
tions in  guilt,  according  as  the  higher  nature  of 
man  has  more  or  less  asserted  its  own  freedom 
and  superiority,  or  as  the  disturbing  element  of 
self  may  still  show  its  predominance.  Certainly 
James  could  not  intend  to  say  that  any  one,  even 
among  Christians,  wholly  meets  the  demands  of 
the  Law.  The  higher  his  conception  of  the  dig- 
nity of  the  Law,  as  already  shown,  and  the  stronger 
his  opposition  to  the  usual  standard  of  merit  as 


76 

consisting  in  particular  external  acts  and  ob- 
servances,— the  less  could  sucli  a  view  be  attrib- 
uted to  him.  What  immediately  follows  is  to  the 
same  effect.  It  is  assumed  that,  however  difterent 
may  be  the  actions  of  men,  all  appear  as  guilty  in 
the  si2:ht  of  the  Law.  But  as  Christ  teaches  us  to 
pray:  Forgive  us  our  debts  as  we  forgive  our 
debtors ;  so  does  James  exhort,  that  by  exercising 
gentleness  and  mercy,  in  the  consciousness  of  still 
remaining  sin,  we  should,  show  ourselves  meet  sub- 
jects of  the  divine  compassion.  Christians  should 
speak  and  act  with  the  continual  sense  of  their 
need  of  divine  mercy  ;  then  will  meekness  in 
speech  and  action  be  its  spontaneous  expression, 
and  mercy  triumph  over  strict  justice.  In  this 
view^  therefore,  he  calls  the  law  by  which  the 
Christian  is  judged,  a  law  of  liberty.  For  he  is 
no  longer  under  the  yoke  of  a  law  i-equiring  abso- 
lute obedience,  which  none  can  render,  as  the  con- 
dition of  salvation ;  but  is  connected  with  a  law 
which  is  fulfilled  l)y  the  free  obedience  of  love, 
not  of  fear, — in  the  consciousness  of  sins  forgiven 
and  confiding  reliance  on  the  mercy  of  God. 
''So  speak  ye  and  so  do,  as  they  that  shall  be 
judged  by  the  law  of  liberty.     For  he  shall  have 


77 

judgment  without  mercy,   that  hath  showed  no 
mercy,  and  mercy  rejoiceth  against  judgment." 

As  James  everywhere  marks  the  distinction  be- 
tween appearance  and  reality  ;  and  op- 
])oses  those  tendencies  which  make  ap- 
j)earance  pass  for  reality ;  as  he  declares  himself 
against  dependence  on  mere  knowledge  of  the  law 
without  a  corresponding  course  of  life,  against  a 
pretended  piety  which  does  not  show  itself  in 
works  of  love ;  so,  from  the  same  point  of  view 
and  with  the  same  connection  of  ideas,  does  he 
condemn  a  faith  which  fails  to  show  itself  in  cor- 
responding good  works.  "  What  doth  it  profit, 
my  brethren,  though  a  man  say  he  hath  faith,  and 
have  not  works  ?  can  faith  save  him  ?"  It  should 
be  carefully  noted,  that  James  does  not  say ;  if 
one  has  faith, — but  if  he  professes  to  have  it.  He 
speaks  of  a  merely  professed  faith,  not  of  that 
which  is  genuine.  Of  such  a  faith,  which  by  its 
want  of  good  works  proves  itself  to  be  spurious, 
he  declares  that  salvation  is  not  to  be  attained  by 
it.  In  the  view  of  Paul  also,  good  works  are 
necessary  fruits  of  true  faith.  One  which  pro- 
fessed to  be  sucli,  and  yet  was  wanting  in  these 
fruits,  he  would  not  have  regarded  as  justifying 


78 

fiiitli,  indeed  would  not  have  allowed  it  the  name 
of  faith.  The  meaning  of  James  is  clear  from  the 
illustration  which  follows.  Faith  without  works, 
lie  compares  to  that  love  which  never  manifests 
itself  in  deeds,  and  is  shown  only  in  professions. 
*'  If  a  brother  or  sister  be  naked,  and  destitute  of 
daily  food,  and  one  of  you  say  unto  them,  Depart 
in  peace,  be  ye  warmed  and  filled :  notwithstand- 
ing ye  give  them  not  those  things  which  are  need- 
ful to  the  body :  What  doth  it  profit  ?  Even  so 
faith,  if  it  hath  not  works,  is  dead  being  alone  [is 
in  itself  dead]. 

When  James  says  that  faith  without  works  is 
dead,  he  certainly  could  not  mean  that  works,  the 
mere  outward  and  phenomenal,  constitute  the  liv- 
ing element  of  faith,  that  through  them  it  becomes 
a  living  faith.  On  the  contrary,  he  presupposes 
that  true  faith  has  life  in  itself,  has  in  itself  the 
living  principle  from  which  alone  works  can  pro- 
ceed, and  that  in  works  it  makes  itself  known. 
The  want  of  works  was  to  him  a  proof  that  life 
was  wanting  in  that  faith,  and  hence  he  calls  it  a 
dead  faith.  He  introduces  a  third  person,  speak- 
ing from  James'  own  point  of  view  with  him  who 
professes  to  have  faith  without  works,  and  proving 


79 

to  him  tliat  tlie  one  cannot  exist  witlioiit  tlie  otlier. 
"  Yea,  a  man  may  say,  Thou  hast  faith,  and  I  have 
works  :  show  me  thy  faith  without  thy  works,  and 
I  will  show  thee  my  faith  by  my  works."  In  this 
James  proposes, — for  it  is  he  who  says  this  in  the 
person  of  another, — to  one  who  boasts  of  his  faith 
though  he  has  no  works,  that  he  should  make  the 
trial  of  showiner  to  bim  the  existence  of  his  faith 
without  the  aid  of  works.  To  James  it  would  be 
easy,  by  his  works  to  show  the  faith  which  ani- 
mates him,  and  in  the  strength  of  which  those 
works  were  performed.  As  a  proof  that  such  a 
faith  without  works  is  of  no  value,  he  adduces  the 
faith  of  evil  spirits.  Faith  in  God,  in  its  true 
sense,  can  only  there  exist  where. he  is  consciously 
recognized  as  the  highest  good,  where  the  whole 
life  has  reference  to  him ;  that  faith  which  includes 
in  itself  a  living  fellowship  v/ith  God, — a  practical, 
not  merely  intellectual  faith.  With  evil  spirits,  on 
the  contrary,  the  consciousness  of  dependence  on 
the  Almighty  and  Supreme  forces  itself  upon  them 
against  their  will.  They  would  gladly  throw  off 
this  dependence,  but  they  have  not  the  power.  It 
is  something  merely  passive,  with  which  their  own 
free  inclination,  the  self-moved  submission  of  the 


80 

spii'lt,  lias  nothing  to  do.  It  is  not  a  faith  of  the 
heart,  but  merely  of  the  intellect ;  presenting  God 
as  in  opposition  to  the  spirit  striving  to  escape 
from  him, — God  the  Almighty,  only  as  an  object 
of  fear  to  the  spirit  estranged  from  him,  and  un- 
willing to  acknowledge  him.  "Thou  believest 
there  is  one  God ;  thou  doest  well :  the  devils  also 
believe,  and  tremble." 

By  the  Jews  Abraham  v/as  claimed,  as  the  rep- 
resentative of  the  faith  in  one  God  in 

Ch.  ii.  20-24.] 

the  midst  of  nations  devoted  to  idolatry ; 
and  therein  was  placed  (as  by  others  indeed  in  his 
circumcision)  his  great  significance.  James  there- 
fore proceeds  to  show,  that  the  significance  of  this 
faitb  did  not  consist  in  a  passive  belief  of  the  un- 
derstanding in  one  God.  It  was  a  devotion  of  the 
whole  life  to  God.  It  proved  its  genuineness  by 
works  of  self-denial ;  by  his  readiness,  in  love  to 
God  and  reliance  upon  him,  in  confiding  resignation 
to  his  will,  to  deny  all  natural  feelings  and  make 
of  the  object  dearest  to  himself  an  offering  to  God. 
lie,  therefore,  who  would  follow  Abraham  in  his 
faith  and  by  that  faith  be  justified  before  God, 
must  also  attest  his  faith  by  like  works  of  self- 
denial.     "  But  wilt  thou  know,  O  vain  man,  that 


81 

faith  without  works  is  dead  ?  Was  not  Abraham 
our  father  justified  by  works,  when  he  had  offered 
Isaac  his  son  upon  the  altar  ?"  Thus  might  he  say, 
that  fjiith  and  works  must  here  have  wrought 
too'ether.  How  wrous^ht  tosrether  ?  For  tlie  iusti- 
fication  of  man  before  God  ?  So  that  Abraham 
coukl  not  appear  as  one  justified  before  Him,  until 
after  the  works  had  been  performed  ?  Had  James 
intended  this,  it  must  have  been  on  the  suppo- 
sition, that  God  can  know  man  only  so  far  as  he 
manifests  himself  in  outward  acts.  He  could  not 
therefore  have  recognized  him  as  the  omniscient 
God,  who  looks  into  the  heart,  and  discerns  the 
inward  feeling  before  it  comes  to  light.  Recog- 
nizing his  omniscience,  he  must  have  known  that 
to  tlie  eye  of  God,  this  faith,  which  afterwards 
showed  itself  in  such  works  of  self-denial,  already 
appeared  as  genuine  justifying  faith.  But  speak- 
ing from  the  stand  point  of  human  consciousness, 
taking  into  account  only  the  outward  manifesta- 
tion, he  might  so  express  himself;  viz.  that  faith 
and  works  wrought  together  for  justification.  So 
also  when  he  says,  that  "  by  works  was  faith  made 
perfect,"  he  could  not  mean  tliat  works, — the 
mei-e  outward  phenomena  of  faith, — are  that  which 
4* 


82 

perfects  faith  itself;  hut  only  that  in  them  fjilth 
shows  itself  genuine  and  complete,  the  attestation 
of  faith  in  the  life  and  conduct.  "  Seestthou  how 
fciith  wrought  with  his  works,  and  by  works  was 
ftiith  made  perfect  ?  And  the  Scripture  was  ful- 
filled which  saith,  Abraham  believed  God,  and  it 
was  imputed  unto  him  for  righteousness ;  and  he 
was  called  the  friend  of  God."  And  in  that  sense 
he  then  says  :  "  Ye  see  then,  how  that  by  works  a 
man  is  justified,  and  not  by  faith  only." 

To  the  example  of  Abraham  he  now  adds  that 
of  Rahab.    Here,  also,  as^ainst  the  false 

Ch.  ii.  25,  26.]  .  .    .  . 

Jewish  position,  that  this  heathen  wo- 
man was  justified  on  the  ground  of  passive  faith  in 
the  One  God,  he  declares  that  this  faith  was  re- 
quired to  approve  itself  in  works,  the  fruits  of  an 
inward  disposition,  contemning  for  the  honor  of 
God  all  worldly  considerations.  "  Likewise  also,  was 
not  Eahab  the  harlot  justified  by  works,  when  she 
received  the  messengers,  and  had  sent  them  out 
another  way?"  lie  concludes  the  whole  discussion 
with  the  words:  "For  as  the  body  without  the 
spirit  is  dead,  so  faith  without  works  is  dead  also." 
In  this  comparison,  faith  without  works  answers  to 
the  dead  body  without  the  animating  spirit.     But 


83 

It  is  only  because  the  point  of  comparison  is  not 
fully  brought  out.  We  cannot  suppose  him  to 
mean,  that  works  answer  to  the  spirit;  for  the 
spirit  is  certainly  the  inward,  animating  principle. 
Works,  would  answer  to  the  activity  of  the  living 
body.  He  means  then:  the  want  of  works  is 
proof  that  the  faith  is  a  dead  one,  destitute  of  the 
vital  principle,  and  is  therefore  to  be  compared  to 
a  body  which  is  dead. 

James  then  passes  to  another,  and  at  first  view 
apparently  quite  different  topic.  But 
upon  nearer  inspection,  it  is  found  to  be 
closely  connected  with  the  foregoing.  For  the 
very  same  tendency  which  made  a  merit  of  merely 
knowing  and  talking  of  the  Law,  of  an  empty  show 
of  faith  without  a  corresponding  life ;  would  also 
lead  men  to  set  themselves  up  as  teachers  of 
others,  and  to  have  much  to  say  in  the  assemblies 
of  the  church,  without  the  inward  call  to  this 
work.  "  My  brethren,  be  not  many  masters  [be  not 
many  of  you  teachers]."  As  the  ground  of  this 
warning,  he  refers  to  the  increased  responsibility 
which  one  draws  upon  himself,  by  assuming  to  be 
tlie  teacher  of  others  ;  "  knowing  that  we  shall  re- 
ceive the  greater  condemnation."     The  gfoniid  of 


84 

the  tendency  in  these  '•hurches,  to  make  so  light  a 
matter  of  teaching,  was  that  very  want  of  self-ex- 
amination and  self-knowledge,  which  had  so  much 
to  do  with  all  the  faults  rebuked  by  James.  Un- 
der the  influence  of  that  superficial  moral  judg- 
ment, which  took  into  account  only  the  outward 
and  apparent,  they  could  not  rightly  estimate  the 
importance  of  words.  It  was  not  considered,  that 
speaking  itself  was  an  act,  and  was  to  be  judged  by 
a  moral  standard  ;  and  that  one  may  sin,  not  less 
by  the  immoral  use  of  speech  than  by  any  other 
act.  He  bids  them  beware  of  this  danger.  He 
shows  how  hard  it  is,  to  observe  the  just  measure, 
to  exercise  the  proper  self-control,  in  the  use  of 
speech ;  what  injury  may  proceed  from  a  single 
word  ;  and  by  this  he  would  admonish  them,  to  be 
so  much  the  more  conscientious  in  taking  upon 
themselves  the  oftice  of  speaking.  He  who  con- 
sidered well  that  responsibility  and  its  danger, 
could  not  so  lightly  resolve  upon  assuming  it. 
Accordingly  he  says:  "If  any  man  offend  not  in 
word,  the  same  is  a  perfect  man,  and  able  also  to 
bridle  the  whole  body."  That  is  :  He  who  on  all 
occasions,  exercises  self-control  in  the  use  of  words?, 


85 

will  also  be  able  to  exercise  the  same  in  all  other 
i-espects-. 

He  then  proceeds  to  show,  by  many  striking  ex- 
amples  drawn   from    actual   life,    what 

[Ch.  iii.  3-8. 

power  may  reside  in  things  seemingly 
trivial, — how  much  depends  on  the  government 
of  the  tongue.  "  Behold  we  put  bits  in  the  horses' 
mouths,  that  they  may  obey  us,  and  we  turn  about 
their  whole  body.  Behold  also  the  ships,  which 
though  they  be  so  great,  and  are  driven  of  fierce 
winds,  yet  are  they  turned  about  with  a  very  small 
helm,  whithersoever  the  governor  listeth.  Even 
so  the  tongue  is  a  little  member,  and  boasteth 
great  things.  Behold  how  great  a  matter  [forest] 
a  little  fire  kindleth  !  And  the  tongue  is  a  fire," — 
(that  is,  as  a  spark  can  set  a  whole  forest  on  fire, 
so  may  a  word  spoken  by  the  tongue  be  the  oc- 
casion of  great  mischief) — "  a  world  of  iniquity : 
so  is  the  tongue  amongst  our  members,  that  it  de- 
fileth  the  whole  body,  and  setteth  on  fire  the 
course  of  nature  [life],  and  it  is  set  on  fire  of  hell." 
By  this  is  meant,  that  as  the  tongue  is  set  on  fire 
by  the  flames  of  hellish  passion,  so  from  the  tongue 
does  the  fire  spread  over  the  whole  course  of  life. 
He  then  shows  how  vain  a  thing  is  man's  dominion 


86 

over  the  natural  world,  if  lie,  aspiring  to  rule  the 
world,  is  himself  through  passion  a  slave  of  the 
world  ;  what  a  reproach  it  is  to  man,  claiming  sub- 
jection from  all  animals,  not  to  be  able  to  bridle 
his  own  tongue.  "  For  every  kind  of  beasts,  and 
of  birds,  and  of  serpents,  and  things  in  the  sea,  is 
tamed  and  hath  been  tamed  of  mankind.  But  the 
tongue  can  no  man  tame ;  it  is  an  unruly  evil,  full 
of  deadly  poison." 

The  show  of  piety  James  opposes  in  all  its  forms. 
Such  is  that  pious  cant,  in  which,  alone^ 

Ch.  iii.  9-12.]         .  .  . 

with  praise  to  God  in  words,  are  mingled 
a  hateful  censoriousness  and  bitter  denunciation 
of  men,  in  whom  God's  image  is  to  be  honored. 
James  exposes  the  inherent  inconsistency  of  such 
conduct,  which  to  his  view  is  mere  hypocrisy. 
"  Therewith  bless  we  God,  even  the  Father  ;  and 
therewith  curse  we  men,  which  are  made  after  the 
similitude  of  God.  Out  of  the  same  mouth  pro- 
ceedeth  blessing  and  cursing.  My  brethren,  these 
things  ought  not  so  to  be.  Doth  a  fountain  send 
forth  at  the  same  place  sweet  water  and  bitter  ? 
Can  the  fig-tree,  my  brethren,  bear  olive  berries, 
either  a  vine  figs  ?  So  can  no  fountain  both  yield 
salt  water  and  fresh."     Thus  does  James  express 


87 

the  ground-tliouglit  of  this  whole  Epistle,  viz.  that 
all  turns  on  the  inward  temper  from  which  the 
whole  life  takes  its  direction ;  and  nothing  could 
be  more  remote  from  that  tendency,  opposed  by 
him  at  all  points,  which  confines  its  regard  to  the 
merely  external,  to  single  acts  and  empty  show. 

As  James  has  contended  against  a  false  faith, 
unaccompanied  by  works, — so  does  he,  in 

.  [Ch.  iii.  13. 

like  manner,  against  that  knowledge  and 
wisdom  in  divine  things,  which  does  not  make 
itself  known  by  a  living  activity  in  a  correspond- 
ing course  of  life.  He  requires  of  all  religious 
knowledge,  that  it  approve  itself,  as  a  product  of 
the  divine  life  of  the  spirit,  in  a  course  of  conduct 
proceeding  from  that  inner  life.  "  AVho  is  a  wise 
man,  and  endued  with  knowledge  amongst  you? 
Let  him  show  out  of  a  good  conversation,  <fec." 
With  this  view,  he  gives  s]3ecial  prominence  to  th^t 
which  stood  most  opposed  to  the  faults  of  these 
churches  ;  contrasting  with  the  unbridled  passion 
of  those  who  made  such  account  of  their  knowl- 
edge, the  spirit  of  meekness  as  being  the  mark  of 
genuine  wisdom  and  knowledge :  "  let  him  show . . . 
his  works  with  meekness  and  wisdom." 

"  But  if  ye  have  bitter  envying  and  strife  in 


88 

your   hearts,  glory  not,  and  lie   not  against  tlie 
truth."    It  is  the  inward  temper  which, 

Gh.iii.  14-16.] 

in  his  view^,  marks  genuine  knowledge 
also,  genuine  wisdom.  This  must  derive  its  heing 
from  above,  must  be  the  product  of  the  divine 
life,  and  through  its  divine  impress  must  make 
itself  known  also  in  the  outward  life.  The  op- 
posite proceeds  from  a  principle  of  the  natural 
man,  not  from  that  which  is  divine.  For  the  Holy 
Scriptures  often  designate,  under  the  name  of  the 
Flesh,  everything  e\al,  all  which  stands  opposed  to 
the  Spirit  of  God,  to  the  divine  life.  When  the 
term  is  used  in  this  general  sense,  it  includes  also 
the  sj^iritual  nature  of  man, — the  reason,  the  soul, 
in  so  far  as  it  has  not  been  made  subject  to  the 
Divine  Spirit,  but  claims  an  independent  being,  to 
be  something  in  its  own  right, — independently 
of  God  and  aside  from  God,  and  hence  in  oppo- 
sition to  him.  All  this  is  comprehended  in  the 
idea  of  the  Flesh,  in  that  Biblical  sense.  It  is  l)y 
no  means  limited  to  what  we  call  Flesh,  sensuality 
in  the  narrower  sense  of  the  term.  From  Flesh, 
understood  in  this  more  general  sense,  is  dis- 
tinguished in  biblical  usage  that  which  in  tlie  luir- 


89 

rower  sense  is  designated  as  natural ,*— viz.  tlie 
spiritual  nature  of  man  (the  reason,  the  soul)  as 
])eincr  unlike  to  God,  and  conformed  to  the  world. 
Reason,  however  highly  developed  and  cultivated, 
ivmains  still  within  the  bounds  of  the  natural  man. 
It  is  of  this  James  speaks ;  and  this  with  him  is  the 
same  which  actuates  apostate  spirits.  "  This  wis- 
<l<,ni  descendeth  not  from  above,  but  is -earthly, 
.sensual  [natural],  devilish.  For  where  envying 
and  strife  is,  there  is  confusion,  and  every  evil 

work." 

He  then  enters  more  fully  into  particulars,  and 
describes  the  traits  which  characterize  ^^^^  ...  ,^ 
genuine  wisdom.  He  does  this  with  spe- 
cial reference  indeed  to  the  false  conceit  of  wisdom 
among  these  churches,  but  yet  in  a  manner  prac- 
tically nseful  for  all  times.  As  characteristic  of 
the  wisdom  that  comes  from  above,  he  names  first, 
purity —i.  e.  freedom  from  all  worldly  stain  ;  then 

*  This  term  is  used  here,  as  already  familiar  to  the  reader  of  the  Eng- 
lish Bible,  the  same  word  in  the  original  being  80  translated  m  several 
ra.«ao-e.  e  g  1  Cor.  ii.  14.  The  German  word  (s.eiiscA,  of  the  soul,  psych.- 
cal  pertaining  to  the  bigl'er  rational  nature  of  man)  is  used  by  Ncander  as 
explained  in  the  text,  of  the  rational  soul  not  under  the  influence  of  the 
H„iy  Spirit,-iu  other  words,  of  the  natural  or  unrenewed  mmd  and 
aifections  It  is  therefore  the  best  expression  of  his  meaning  to  the  Eng- 
lish reader,  though  not  a  translation  of  the  German  word,  for  wh.ch  we 
have  no  representative  suitable  to  be  used  here.— Tu. 


90 

love  of  peace, — the  truly  wise  not  being  stub- 
bornly attached  to  his  own  opinion  and  contentious 
in  support  of  it ;  then,  that  it  is  gentle,  is  easily  per- 
suaded,— i.  e.  ready  to  listen  to  others,  willing  to 
be  taught,  to  acknowledge  what  is  w^'ong  on  \U 
own  part,  and  to  adopt  the  better  way.  All  this 
gives  evidence  of  victory  attained  over  the  love  of 
self  The  wisdom  which  is  from  above  he  farther 
characterizes,  as  full  of  mercy  and  good  fruits, — ■ 
meaning  that  knowledge  and  action  must  go 
together.  We  have  already  explained,  in  connec- 
tion with  a  previous  passage,*  what  James  means 
by  being  in  conflict  with  oneself  This  he  now^  ex- 
cludes from  the  idea  of  genuine  wisdom.  He  de- 
mands an  inward  harmony  of  soul,  the  stability  of 
conviction  ;  that  the  soul  shall  not  be  distracted 
by  the  discordant  views,  the  mental  conflicts  of 
this  state  of  unbelief  It  is  difl[icult  to  indicate  his 
meaning  in  a  single  word.  Candor,  simplicity,  per- 
haps comes  nearest  to  the  idea.  Finally,  true  wis- 
dom is  without  hypocrisy. 

In  wdiat  James  has  thus  far  said,  his  main  object 
has  been  to  oppose  the  contentious  spirit 

Ch.  iii.  18.]  .  .  „         .    1  XT 

of  this   conceit   of  wisdom.       lie    now 

*  Page  71. 


91 

brings  the  opposite  trait  more  prominently  for- 
ward, by  asserting  that  it  is  only  in  peace,  in 
unity,  that  every  Christian  interest  can  prosper, 
"  And  the  fruit  of  righteousness  is  sown  in  peace, 
of  them  that  make  peace."  "  Fruit  of  righteous- 
ness" may,  in  biblical  usage,  be  variously  under- 
stood. It  may  denote  either  the  blessing  which 
righteousness  brings  with  it, — fruit  for  life  eternal ; 
or  the  fruits  of  righteousness  in  the  works  which 
it  produces.  But  though  the  w^ords  ai-e  true  in 
both  senses,  the  latter  seems  to  be  the  one  in- 
tended by  James, — and  his  meaning  is :  the  seeds 
of  all  that  is  truly  good  in  action,  proceeding  from 
righteousness,  can  only  prosper  where  there  is 
peace,  and  with  those  whose  conduct  tends  to 
peace.  Where  all  is  strife,  nothing  truly  Christian 
can  prosper. 

This  leads  him  to  speak,  in  general,  of  the  source 
of   the    many    controversies    in    these 

•^  [Ch.  iv.  1,  2. 

churches.  This  he  finds  in  those  insa- 
tiable desires  which  allow  no  one  to  be  at  rest. 
"  From  wdience  come  wars  and  fightings  among 
you  ?  Come  they  not  hence,  even  of  your  lusts, 
that  Avar  in  your  members  ?"  Like  Paul,  James 
here  presupposes  an  inward  conflict  in  man,  the 


92 

conflict  between  flesh  and  spirit.  As  tlie  powei 
of  evil  is  by  Paul  termed  the  law  in  the  members, 
because  in  the  body  is  the  outward  manifestation 
of  man,  and  there  the  dominion  of  sinful  desire 
shows  itself ;  so  James,  in  like  manner,  speaks  of 
the  lusts  that  Avar  in  the  members.  In  the  case 
of  the  unrenewed,  the  power  of  the  sinful  desires 
.is  opposed  only  by  the  activity  of  man's  higher 
spiritual  nature,  which  is  too  weak,  however,  to 
gain  the  victory  over  the  opposing  force.  This 
conflict,  which  leads  to  no  decisive  result,  and 
leaves  man  in  unreconciled  disunion  with  himself, 
is  described  by  Paul  in  the  seventh  chapter  of  his 
Epistle  to  the  Komans.  It  is  otherwise  with  the 
Christian,  the  regenerated  man.  In  him  also  this 
conflict  is  continued,  but  with  this  difference, — 
that  in  him  the  higher  spiritual  nature  has  been 
strengthened  through  the  divine  life  imparted  to 
him,  whereby  he  is  enabled  to  overcome  the  op- 
posing sinful  desii'cs.  But  he  must  maintain  the 
conflict  in  order  to  gain  the  victory ;  otherwise, 
the  evil  principle  gains  upon  him  more  and  more, 
and  may  at  length  succeed  in  wholly  extinguisliing 
the  higher  life.  James  exhorts  to  the  mainte- 
nance of  this  warfare,  and  gives  warning  of  the 


93 

vianger  which  threatens  him  who  intermits  it,  as 
was  the  case  with  many  in  these  churches.  For 
there  were  doubtless  many  here,  as  appears  from 
the  rebukes  of  James,  who  called  themselves  Chris- 
tians, but  were  yet  strangers  to  the  new  birth,  and 
stood  in  just  the  same  relation  to  these  two  oppo- 
site tendencies  as  those  who  still  belonged  wholly 
to  the  world.  Hence  James  says  to  them :  "  Ye 
covet"  (namely  earthly  goods  which  ye  may  use 
in  the  service  of  your  lusts)  "  and  have  not ;  ye 
kill,  and  desire  to  have  [ye  hate  and  envy],  and 
cannot  obtain." 

In  the  original  of  the  above  passage  it  is  said, 
"  Ye  murder."  Luther  has  translated  it  "  Ye  hate," 
not  without  reason  so  far  as  respects  the  meaning ; 
for  it  is  hardly  possible  that  James  should  speak 
of  murder,  in  the  proper  sense,  as  so  prevalent. 
But  James  purposely,  without  doubt,  selects  the 
very  strongest  expressions,  in  order  to  designate 
with  the  utmost  precision  the  nature  of  that  evil, 
which,  whatever  may  be  the  outward  form  of 
manifestation,  is  still  the  same.  Thus  murder 
stands  as  the  climax  in  the  expression  of  hate  and 
u'uvy.  For  in  the  very  nature  of  hatred  and  envy 
lies  the  desire,  to  remove  their  object  out  of  the 


94 

way.  The  selfishness  wliicli  here  })etrays  Itself, 
sees  in  the  existence  of  that  object  an  obstacle  to 
its  wishes,  from  wliicli  it  would  gladly  be  freed. 
Even  if  the  overt  act  lias  not  yet  been  committed, 
and  the  power  of  tlie  higher  tendency  is  still  too 
great  to  allow  it,  yet  does  it  lie  in  the  very  nature 
of  the  emotion ;  and  the  divine  word  reveals  to  us, 
in  the  concealed  germ  of  the  heart,  the  very  same 
thing  which  afterward,  when  expressed  in  act,  be- 
comes an  object  of  general  abhorrence.  Hence 
Christ  declares  in  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount,  in 
opposition  to  the  mere  external  conception  of  the 
Mosaic  Law,  that  whosoever  is  angry  with  his 
brother,  is  in  danger  of  the  judgment,  i.  e.  of  dam- 
nation. And  the  Apostle  John  says:  "Who- 
soever hateth  his  brother  is  a  murderer." 

James  now  directs  them,  as  he  had  done  at  the 
be2;innino^  of  the  Epistle,  to  the  fountain 
of  all  good,  whence  alone  they  could  ob- 
tain all  that  was  wanting  to  them,  ihe  supply  of 
all  their  necessities.  The  ground  of  their  un- 
ceasing and  fruitless  efforts,  only  involving  them 
in  strife,  throucrh  the  collision  of  selfish  interests, 
he  finds  in  their  disposition  to  do  for  themselves, 
that  which  they  should  seek  from  God  alone  in  the 


spirit  of  liumble  submission.  To  their  neglect  of 
prayer,  whicli  alone  can  procure  a  blessing  on 
labor,  lie  ascribes  tlieir  vain  endeavors  and  con- 
tentions. Sucli  were  not  wanting  indeed  in  these 
churches,  as  connected  a  certain  habit  of  prayer  with 
all  the  other  external  practices  of  religion,  and  pro- 
ceeding from  the  same  temper  of  heart.  But  such 
prayer  he  characterizes  as  one  which  could  bring 
no  fruit,  because  it  was  not  the  true  prayer  of  the 
heart,  and  did  not  proceed  from  the  right  dispo- 
sition of  the  soul  towards  God.  It  was  merely  the 
expression  of  earthly  desire,  seeking  to  make  God 
subservient  to  itself ;  for  they  sought  from  Him 
only  what  they  might  use  for  the  gratification  of 
their  lusts.  "  Ye  fight  and  war,  yet  ye  have  not, 
'  because  ye  ask  not.  Ye  ask  and  receive  not,  be- 
cause ye  ask  amiss,  that  ye  may  consume  it  upon 
your  lusts." 

He  returns  continually  to  the  radical  evil,  the 
want  in  the  soul  of  the  one  determining 
ground-tone  in  the  reference  of  the  life 
to  God ;  the  direction  of  the  whole  spirit  to  the 
world,  in  connection  with  many  external  practices 
of  religion.  As  in  the  Old  Testament,  the  union 
of  the  people  with  God  is  represented  under  the 


96 

image  of  a  marriage,  their  apostasy  from  God  un- 
ler  tliat  of  adultery ;  so  James  addresses  tliem  aa 
cirlulterers,  inasmuch  as  they  claimed  to  be  wor- 
shipers of  God,  and  yet  served  only  the  world. 
He  admonishes  them  that  God  requires  the  whole 
lieart,  that  it  cannot  be  divided  between  God  and 
the  world ;  that  either  love  to  God  or  love  to  the 
world  must  be  the  animating  principle ;  that  de- 
votion to  the  world,  as  the  aim  of  effort,  a  love  of 
the  world  which  seeks  in  the  world  its  highest 
good,  cannot  exist  without  hostility  towards  God, — 
as  the  Lord  himself  says :  Ye  cannot  serve  God 
and  Mammon.  "  Ye  adulterers,  and  adulteresses, 
know  ye  not  that  the  friendship  of  the  world  is 
enmity  with  God  ?  Whosoever  therefore  will  be 
a  friend  of  the  world,  is  the  enemy  of  God." 
James  reminds  them  in  general  of  the  declara- 
tions of  the  Holy  Scripture,  which  everywhere 
testifies  of  the  incompatibility  of  these  two  radical 
tendencies.  "  Or,"  says  he  to  them,  "  suppose  ye 
that  the  Scripture  saith  in  vain.  The  Spirit  that 
(hvelleth  in  us  lusteth  to  envy  [is  a  jealous  spir- 
it] V  This  spirit,  he  would  say,  can  suffer  no 
other  to  share  with  itself;  where  it  would  take  up 
its  abode,  it  excludes  the  love  of  the  world. 


**  97 

"  But," — to  the  above  warning  lie  immediately 
subioins  the   consolation, — "He    s'iveth 

•^  .  [Ch.  iv.6-8. 

more  grace ;"  more,  to  wit,  than  that 
;dready  bestowed,  provided  only  that  the  one  rad- 
ical condition  is  fulfilled,  in  the  entire  submission 
of  the  heart,  in  the  humbly  receptive  spirit.  He 
reminds  them  of  the  passage  from  the  Proverbs : 
"  God  resisteth  the  proud,  but  giveth  grace  unto 
the  humble."  Even  if  those,  to  whom  his  Epis- 
tle was  directed,  were  not  chargeable  with  the 
pride  of  unbelief, — they  were  yet  wanting  in  the 
ground-tone  of  humility,  the  abiding  sense  of  de- 
pendence on  God,  the  ever-present  consciousness 
that  they  were  nothing  and  could  do  nothing 
without  God.  This  want  betrayed  itself  in  ex- 
cessive reliance  on  earthly  possessions  and  human 
means.  The  prevalence  of  a  worldly  spirit  always 
originates  in  want  of  humility.  For  this  reason 
James  admonishes  them,  that  God  withholds  his 
gifts  and  aid  from  the  proud,  since  the  necessary 
condition  on  the  part  of  the  creature  for  the  re- 
ception of  every  communication  on  the  part  of 
God,  is  wanting  to  them.  But  where  humility  is 
found,  there  is  a  susceptibility  foi'  the  communi- 
cation of  all  divine  grace.     He  says  to  those,  who 


98  4k 

pleaded  in  excuse  for  sin  the  irresistible  tempta- 
tions of  Satan,  or  the  withholding  of  divine  grace, 
that  it  was  their  own  fault  if  they  thus  fell.  All 
depended  on  the  direction  of  their  own  will.  In 
order  to  resist  the  Evil  One,  who  has  power  over 
no  one  except  by  his  own  consent,  they  needed 
but  to  humble  themselves  before  God,  to  turn  to 
Him  in  the  consciousness  of  dependence.  Thus 
will  God  impart  himself  to  them,  and  thus  will  the 
Evil  One  be  compelled  to  flee.  "Submit  your- 
selves therefore  to  God :  resist  the  Devil  and  he 
will  flee  from  you.  Draw  nigh  unto  God  and  he 
will  draw  nigh  unto  you." 

The  inward  and  the  outward  James  compre- 
hends as  one.     Purity  of  heart  from  all 

Ch.  iv.  8-10.] 

worldly  stains,  must  show  itself  in  pu- 
rity of  the  outward  conduct.  This  is  expressed 
by  James  (who  delights  to  embody  truth  in  a 
specific  form)  as  keeping  the  hand,  the  instrument 
of  sin,  pure  from  every  sinful  act ;  and  purity  of 
life,  exhibited  in  the  external  walk,  must  lead 
back  again  to  its  source,  inward  purity  of  heart, 
"  Cleanse  your  hands,  ye  sinners,  and  purify  your 
hearts,  ye  double-minded"  (divided  between  God 
and  the  world).     The  Greek  term  expresses  the 


99 

idea  (which  we  have  ah-eady  exphiiued*)  of  a  man 
who  has  as  it  were  two  souls ;  to  whom  is  wanting 
the  true  harmony  of  the  inner  life,  which  proceeds 
only  from  the  all-controlling  direction  of  the  soul 
to  God  ;  of  the  man  who  is  divided  between  op- 
posite tendencies  to  God  and  to  the  world.  Such  a 
spiritual  state  is  in  direct  contrariety  with  that 
sanctificatiou  of  the  heart,  vrhich  James  requires ; 
it  being  the  very  ground  of  true  sanctification, 
that  but  one  soul  should  dwell  in  man,  that  in  all 
things  the  single  animating  principle  should  he 
love  to  God.  It  was  therefore  necessary,  first  of 
all,  to  arouse  those  who  were  sunk  in  worldly 
pleasure  to  a  sense  of  the  vanity  of  such  enjoy- 
ments, to  the  wretchedness  of  their  condition.  A 
godly  sorrow  must  be  awakened  in  them;  the 
anguish  of  repentance  as  a  ground  of  true  joy, — 
the  joy  in  God  of  those  who  are  dead  to  the  world 
and  wholly  devoted  to  Him.  So  Christ  says  in 
the  Sermon  on  the  Mount,  with  which  we  find  so 
many  points  of  harmony  in  this  Epistle  :  Blessed 
are  they  that  mourn,  for  they  shall  be  comforted. 
"  Be  afflicted"  (feel  your  wretchedness),  "  and 
mourn,  and  weep :  let  your  laughter  be  turned  to 

«   Page  51. 


100 

moui-ning,  ami  your  joy  to  heaviness.  Huiuhle 
yourselves  iu  the  sight  of  the  Lord,  and  he  shall 
lift  you  up." 

Thus  James  comprehends  all  in  self-abasement 
l)efore  God,  as  the  condition  of  all  true  exaltation, 
which  comes  alone  from  God  ;  as  the  Saviour  has 
said  :  Whoso  exalteth  himself  shall  be  abased,  and 
he  that  humbleth  himself  shall  be  exalted.  James 
here  speaks  of  an  inward  act  of  the  spirit,  not  of 
one  which  can  become  an  object  of  outward  per- 
ception ;  although  this  inward  act  must  make 
itself  known  in  the  outward  form  of  the  whole 
life.  Hence  he  says, — abasement  before  God,  in 
the  eye  of  God,  as  that  which  can  take  place  only 
between  the  soul  and  God.  Here  too  the  relation 
is  such  as  man  can  sustain  to  God  alone,  not  to 
any  created  being.  He  who  is  conscious  to  him- 
self of  such  a  relation  to  God,  for  that  very  reason 
will  be  far  from  placing  himself  in  a  similar  rela- 
tion to  any  human  being.  As  his  whole  life  thus 
has  its  root  in  conscious  dependence  on  God,  he 
will  thereby  be  secured  from  every  form  of  bon- 
dage to  man. 

The  want  of  humility  showed  itself  in  that 
proneness  to  judge  censoriously  of  others.     Here 


101 

was  a  twofold  expression  of  the  want  of  humil- 
ity, in  reference  to  the  Law.     He  who 

''  .  .       [Cb.  iv.  11,  12. 

Judges  thus  censoriously  of  others,  is 
far  from  humbling  himself  before  that  holy  law ; 
from   comparing  his   whole   life   therewith,   and 
discovering  how  great  is  the  chasm  between  his 
life  and  its  demands. 

Hence  James  says,  that  such  an  one  makes  him- 
self the  judge  of  the  Law,  the  lawgiver,  instead  of 
applying  the  Law  to  himself  and  acting  in  ac- 
cordance therewith.  Such  an  one,  he  says,  in 
speaking  against  his  brother  speaks  against  the 
Law,  since  he  gives  the  lie  to  the  Law  that  ac- 
cuses him  for  judging  another.  Furthermore, 
such  an  one  betrays  the  want  of  self-abasement 
before  God, — inasmuch  as  he  forgets  how  he  him- 
self, with  him  whom  he  accuses,  stands  in  like  de- 
pendence on  the  One  sole  Judge  and  Arbiter  of 
happiness  and  misery.  He  sets  himself  in  the 
place  of  the  Supreme  Judge,  inasmuch  as  he  pre- 
sumes to  anticipate  his  verdict.  "  Speak  not  evil 
one  of  another,  brethren  :  he  that  speaketh  evil  of 
his  brother,  and  judgeth  his  brother,  speaketh  evil 
of  the  law,  and  judgeth  the  law ;  but  if  thou  judge 
the   law,  thou  art  not  a  doer  of  the  law,  but  a 


102 

judge.     There  is  one  lawgiver,  who   is  able  to 

save  and  to  destroy;  who  art  thoii  that  judgest 

another  ?" 

The   pride   of  the  worldly  spirit,  in   contrast 

with  the  nature  of  genuine  humility, 

Ch.  iv.  13-17.]  .  .  .  / ' 

was    the    starting-point    with    which 

James  commenced,  and  from  which  he  proceeded 
to  reprove  the  various  forms  of  evil  in  these 
churches.  In  like  manner  he  now  brings  forward 
another  specific  case,  connected  however  with  the 
same  radical  tendency  of  which  we  have  spoken. 
It  was  that  false  reliance  upon  the  Human,  which 
leads  one  to  make  calculations  upon  the  futni-e, 
without  for  a  moment  taking  into  account  the  in- 
secuiity  of  human  life  ;  to  form  prospective  plan^^ 
of  earthly  gain,  as  if  one  were  entirely  certain  of 
the  future.  James  thought  it  necessary  to  ad- 
monish those,  who  were  thus  absorbed  in  worldly 
pursuits,  of  the  uncertainty  of  all  human  things  ; 
that  every  moment  of  life  is  dependent  on  the 
will  of  God  and  his  providence.  "  Go  to  now  ye 
that  say,  To-day  or  to-morrow  we  will  go  into 
such  a  city  and  continue  there  a  year,  and  buy, 
and  sell,  and  get  gain  :  whereas  ye  know  not  wli.-it 
shall  be  on  the  morrow:  for  what  is  your  life  ?    It 


103 

is  even  a  vapor  wliicli  appeareth  for  a  little  time 
and  then  vanislietli  away.  For  that  ye  ought  to 
say,  if  the  Lord  will,  we  shall  live,  and  do  this  or 
that."  It  is  plain  that  in  saying  this,  James  did 
not  mean  to  insist,  that  such  a  condition  should 
always  be  expressed  in  words.  For  such  expres- 
sions might  easily  degenerate  into  a  mere  form  ; 
and  the  tendency  of  these  churches  was  to  turn 
everything  into  form.  Here  again  James  shows 
his  preference  of  the  specific  over  the  general.  In- 
stead of  the  general  truth,  of  the  uncertainty  and 
dependence  of  the  whole  earthly  life,  he  uses 
language  adapted  to  suggest  this  general  thought 
by  its  application  to  a  particular  case.  From  the 
particular  he  now  passes  over  again  to  the  general, 
and  assails  that  fiilse  worldly  and  self-reliance  in 
its  whole  extent.  "  But  now  ye  glory  in  your 
vain  confidence  ;  all  such  glorying  is  evil."  In 
closing  this  admonition,  he  warns  them,  that  it  is 
not  enough  to  have  known  the  truth  here  ex- 
pressed ;  it  was  necessary, — and  herein  they  chiefly 
failed, — that  the  known  truth  should  pervade  the 
life  and  control  the  conduct.  "To  him  that 
knoweth  to  do  s:ood,  and  doeth  it  not,  to  him  it  is 


104 

James  now  addresses  himself  to  tlie  ricL,  wliolly 
immersed    in   the   spirit   of  the  world. 

CL.  V.  1-6.] 

"Go  to  now,  ye  rich  men,  weep  and 
howl  for  your  miseries  that  shall  come  upon  you. 
Your  riches  are  corrupted  and  your  garments 
moth-eaten :  Your  gold  and  silver  is  cankered,  and 
the  rust  of  them  shall  be  a  witness  against  you, 
and  shall  eat  your  flesh,  [as  ye  have  treasured  ii]) 
fire]  for  the  last  days."  He  speaks  of  riches  under 
three  speciiic  forms,  viz.  in  the  garnered  fiuits  of 
the  field,  in  garments,  and  in  gold  and  silver.  All 
these,  he  would  say,  the  rich  heap  up  without 
profit.  Their  treasures  in  gold  and  silver,  allowed 
through  disuse  to  consume  with  rust,  will  witness 
against  them  to  their  condemnation  ;  showing 
their  guilt  in  sufifering  to  perish  unemployed,  that 
which  they  should  have  used  for  the  benefit  of 
others.  The  rust  eats  into  their  own  flesh,  inas- 
much as  it  is  a  token  of  their  own  perishableness 
and  of  the  judgment  that  overhangs  them ;  as  they, 
instead  of  gathering  durable  riches,  have  treasured 
up  for  themselves  the  fire  of  God^s  wi'uth  \n 
treasures  accumulated  for  a  pi-ey  to  rust.  lie  then 
describes  the  oppressions  inflicted  by  the  rich  (not 
necessarily  sucb  as  belonged  to  Christian  churches) 


105 


on  the  pious  poor  in  humble  life.     ''  Behold,  ti.e 
hire  of  the  laborers  which  have  reaped  down  your 
ll,lds,  which  is  of  you  kept  back  by  fraud,  crieth  : 
...nd  the  cries  of  them  which   have   reaped  are 
<  ,.tc-red  into  the  ears  of  the  Lord  of  Sabaoth.    Ye 
i,.ive  lived  in  pleasure    on    the    earth    and  l)een 
wanton  ;  ye  have  nourished  your  hearts  as  in  [foi'] 
a  day  of  slaughter."    That  is ;  as  one  pampers  the 
beast  destined  for  slaughter,  so  have  ye,  giving 
yourselves  up  to  the  service  of  your  lusts,  and  rev- 
elling in  careless  unconcern,  prepared  yourselves 
for  the  judgment  that  is  hastening  on.     "  Ye  have 
condemned  and  killed  the  just,  and  he  doth  not 
j.^.-gt  you:"— the  pious  sufferer's  patient  resigna- 
tion to  God's  will,  in  contrast  with  the  pride  and 
presumption  of  the  oppressor. 

He  then  turns  to  the  Christian  brethren,  who 
had  so  much  to  suffer  from  the  rich  and  ^^^^  ^  ^  ^ 
pon^erful.  He  exhorts  them  to  bear 
with  patience  every  wrong,  to  wait  submissively 
for  the  coming  of  the  Lord,  who  will  redeem  his 
own  from  all  evil,  and  will  show  himself  the 
righteous  judge  of  all.  We  must  bear  in  mind, 
th'lt  the  time  of  the  Lord's  coming  was  then  looked 
for  as  already  near  at  hand.     It  was  natural,  in 


106 

tlie  Apostolic  age,  so  to  regard  it.  Christ  himself 
had  not  chosen  to  give  any  information  respecting 
the  time  of  his  coming.  Nay,  he  had  expressly 
said,  that  the  Father  had  reserved  the  decision  to 
himself  alone  (Mai'k  xiii.  32)  ;  that  even  the  Son 
could  determine  nothing  respecting  it.  But  still, 
the. longing  desire  of  the  Apostolic  cliurch  was 
directed,  with  eager  haste,  to  the  appearing  of  the 
Lord.  The  whole  Christian  period  seemed  only 
as  the  ti-ansition-point  to  the  eternal,  and  thus  as 
something  that  must  soon  be  passed.  As  the 
traveller,  beholding  from  afar  the  object  of  all  his 
wanderings,  overlooks  the  windings  of  the  inter- 
vening way,  and  believes  himself  already  near  his 
goal ;  so  it  seemed  to  them,  as  their  eye  was  fixed  on 
that  consummation  of  the  whole  course  of  events 
on  earth.  It  is  from  this  point  of  view  that  James 
here  speaks.  "Be  patient  therefore,  brethren, 
unto  the  coming  of  the  Lord:  behold  the  hus- 
bandman waiteth  for  the  precious  fruit  of  the 
earth,  and  hath  long  patience  for  it,  until  he  re- 
ceive the  early  and  latter  rain.  Be  ye  also  pa- 
tient; stablish  your  hearts:  for  the  coming  of  the 
Loi'd  (Iraweth  nigh."  James, — who,  as  already  i-e- 
markcd,  had  all  the  oriental  fondness  for  imagery 


107 

drawn  from  natural  objects, — here  transfers  to 
history  the  laws  of  gradual  development  in  the 
phenomena  of  nature.  As  the  fruits  of  the  earth 
mature  only  by  slow  degrees,  and  the  husband 
man  must  wait  patiently  for  the  early  and  tne 
latter  rain  ;  so  there  is  needed  the  same  constancy 
of  patience,  while  anticipating  the  final  consum- 
mation of  earthly  history,  in  its  gradual  course  of 
development.  Here,  too,  everything  has  its  ap- 
j)()inted  time  ;  and  one  must  guard  against  that 
impatient  haste,  which  is  unwilling  to  wait  for  the 
successive  stages  of  progress,  and  is  eager  to  reach 
ihe  end  at  once." 

He  now  proceeds  to  speak  of  the  deportment  of 
Christians  towards  each  other,  and  com- 

[Cb.  V.  9-11. 

mends  the  mutual  exercise  of  long-suf- 
fering and  forbearance.  They  should  not  indulge 
in  mutual  accusations,  appealing  to  God  against 
one  another,  but  leave  all  to  the  judgment  of  God. 
They  should  not  desire,  by  thus  mutually  con- 
<ienming  one  another,  to  anticipate  the  Judge  who 
will  soon  appear.  His  words  remind  us  of  our 
Saviour's  admonition  in  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount : 
Judge  not,  that  ye  be  not  judged.  "  Grudge  not 
one    against   another,   brethren,  lest    ye   be  con- 


108 

demned:  behold  the  judge  standeth  before  tlie 
door."  He  then  sets  before  them  the  examples  of 
the  prophets  as  models  of  patience ;  especially  the 
example  of  Job,  in  whom,  after  he  had  endured 
every  trial  of  his  patience,  the  mercy  of  God  was 
so  gloriously  displayed.  "  Take,  my  brethren,  the 
prophets,  who  have  spoken  in  the  name  of  the 
Lord,  for  an  example  of  suifering  affliction  and  of 
patience."  The  thought  is  doubtless  this  :  They 
have  spoken  in  the  name  of  the  Lord,  and  yet 
have  suffered  so  much, — and  that  for  the  Lord's 
sake.  If  the  prophets,  so  highly  honored  and 
speaking  in  the  name  of  the  Lord,  have  endured 
such  suffering,  how  could  we  expect  a  different 
lot  ?  "  Behold  we  count  them  happy  which  en- 
dure. Ye  have  heard  of  the  patience  of  Job,  and 
have  seen  the  end  of  the  Lord"  (i.  e.  the  end 
brought  about  by  him,  the  final  issue  which  tlic 
Lord  granted  to  all  his  trials)  ;  "  that  the  Lord  is 
very  pitiful  and  of  tender  mercy." 

Tlien  follow  })articular  admonitions  and  exhor- 
tations, all  which,  however,  are  opposed  in 

Cl>.  v.12.1  _  . 

spirit  to  .vuch  errors,  as  were  the  fruit  of 
the  leading  evil  tendencies  in  these  churches.  In 
the  Sermon  on  the  Mount,  Christ  has  unfolded  the 


109 

whole  Law  in  its  spirituality  and  glory;  every- 
where converting  the  outward  and  particular  to 
the  inward,  to  the  completeness  and  unity  of  the 
inward  temper  and  disposition  ;  at  once  abolishing 
and  fnlfilling  the  Law,  abolishing  it  in  the  letter 
and  fulfilling  it  in  its  spirit.  Thus  to  the  com- 
mand :  Thou  shalt  hallow'  the  seventh  day,  is 
given  its  higher  spiritual  import, — Let  every  day 
be  holy  to  thee.  In  like  manner,  the  requirement 
to  regard  an  oath  as  holy,  becomes  in  its  true 
spirit :  Let  every  word  be  holy  to  thee,  as  being 
consecrated  to  the  Lord, — as  addressed  to  him, 
since  he  is  ever  before  thine  eyes.  What  an 
oath  is  to  others,  shall  every  word  be  to  the 
Christian.  Hence  among  true  Christians,  there 
will  be  no  need  of  oaths ;  since  to  each  his  word 
is  holy,  and  such  is  the  mutual  confidence  of  all, 
that  the  word  of  each  is  so  received  among  them. 
So  should  it  be  in  a  truly  Christian  church,  in 
which  all  are  recognized  as  genuine  Christians. 
But  in  these  churches,  Avhere  the  proneness  to 
much  speaking  had  naturally  led  to  a  careless  use 
i)f  words,  there  now  prevailed  the  Jewish  habit  of 
using  many  asseverations,  in  order  to  give  their 
words  a  weight  which  they  had  not  in  themselves. 


110 

Even  if  they  shunned  so  fi'equent  a  use  of  the 
name  Jehovah,  they  had  other  more  covert  forms 
of  oatli  in  its  place, — the  violation  of  which,  how- 
ever, they  made  less  a  matter  of  conscience. 
Against  this  James  says  expressly :  "But  al)Ove 
all  tilings,  my  brethren,  swear  not ;  neither  by 
Heaven,  neither  by  tlie  earth,  neither  by  any 
other  oath.  But  let  your  yea  be  yea,  and  your 
nay  be  nay ;  lest  ye  fall  into  condemnation."  That 
is,  their  Yea  and  JN'ay  sliould  suffice  in  place  of 
every  other  form  of  confirmation;  for  if  their 
word  is  not  in  itself  sufficient,  and  requires  the  aid 
of  protestations  to  procure  belief,  they  bring  them- 
selves into  condemnation. 

Then  follows  the  general  direction,  which  most 
of  all   stands   opposed    to   the  spirit  of 

Ch.  V.  13.] 

worldliness  in  these  churches,  to  that  ten- 
dency to  distinguish  between  certain  acts  of  re- 
ligious worship  and  all  the  rest  of  life  as  belong- 
ing to  the  world.  Nothing  can  be  more  opposed 
to  such  a  tendency  than  the  requirement,  that 
every  feeling  of  the  Christian,  in  sorrow  and  in 
joy,  shall  take  the  form  of  prayer.  Thereby  are 
sorrow  and  joy  to  be  sanctified  and  ennobled.  In 
suffering,  the  feeling  of  pain  shall  be  changed  to 


Ill 

tlietoue  of  prayer;  from  God  is  help  to  be  sought 

in  prayer, — power  to  sustain  suffering  and  to  be 

submissive  under  it.     And  joy,  too,  shall  attune 

the   heart   to   the   praise   of  God,   to   gratitude 

towards  Him  to  whom  we  owe  every  good.    Thus 

shall  sorrow  and  joy  have  this  in  common, — the 

direction  of  the  heart  towards  God.    And  as  life  is 

divided  between  joy  and  sorrow,  the  whole  life  will 

thus  become  prayer.    "  Is  any  among  you  afflicted, 

let  him  pray.     Is  any  merry,  let  him  sing  psalms." 

Having  thus  referred  everything  to  prayer  as 

the  soul  of  the  Christian  life,  he  now 

[Ch.  V.  u-ia 
makes   a   specific   application    of    the 

principle  to  cases  of  sickness.  Here  there  was 
need  of  mutual  intercession  in  the  name  of  the 
Lord.  As  the  Presbyters  acted  in  the  name  of 
the  whole  church,  and  each  one  as  a  member  of 
the  body  felt  that  he  needed  its  sympathy  and  in- 
tercession, and  might  count  upon  it ;  individuals 
should  therefore,  in  cases  of  sickness,  send  for  the 
Presbyters  of  the  church.  These  were  to  offer 
prayer  on  their  behalf.  With  this  was  connected 
a  symbolical  transaction, — practised  indeed  in 
many  churches  of  the  East,  but  never  prescribed 
as  a  general  usage, — the  anointing  with  oil ;  of 


112 

wliicli  Christ  had  sometimes  made  use  in  the  heal- 
ing of  the  sick,  as  an  outward  sign  of  healing  and 
sanctifying  power.  If  it  was  the  will  of  the  Lord, 
the  sick  should  be  restored  to  bodily  health. 
But,  however  this  might  be,  he  should  certainly 
receive  spiritual  refreshment,  the  renewed  and 
strengthened  consciousness  of  sin  forgiven;  and 
this  could  not  but  favorably  affect  his  bodily 
state.  "  Is  any  sick  among  you  ?  Let  him  call 
for  the  elders  of  the  church,  and  let  them  pray 
over  him,  anointing  him  with  oil  in  the  name  of 
the  Lord  ;  and  the  prayer  of  faith  shall  save  the 
sick,  and  the  Lord  shall  raise  him  up :  and  if  he 
have  committed  sins,  they  shall  be  forgiven  him." 
We  see  that  James  ascribes  the  healing  power, 
not  to  the  anointing  with  oil,  but  to  the  prayer 
of  faith.  As  he  regards  the  Presbyters  in  tlie 
light  of  organs  of  the  church,  acting  in  its  name ; 
so  does  he  hold  all  other  Christians  in  such  a 
relation,  as  members  of  one  body,  that  they 
should  mutually  pi-ay  for  one  another  in  bodily 
and  spiritual  need;  should  confess  their  sins  to 
one  another,  and  pray  for  the  forgiveness  of  each 
other's  sins.  He  ascribes  great  efficacy  to  the 
pi-ayei    of  fraternal  love.     "  Confess  your   faults 


113 

one  to  another,  and  pray  one  for  another,  that  ye 
may  be  healed," — whether  spiritual  and  bodily 
liealing  united  is  meant,  as  in  the  last  quoted  pas- 
sage, or  merely  spiritual  healing.  "  The  effectua,! 
lervent  prayer  of  the  righteous  man  availeth 
much."  Of  this  efficacy  of  prayer  he  adduces  ex- 
au^ples  from  the  Old  Testament.  But  the  Jewish 
tendency  to  externalize  everything,  led  them  to 
contemplate  these  holy  men  of  old  only  from  a 
distance,  and  as  objects  of  veneration  and  wonder, 
not  as  examples  for  imitation.  James  therefore 
reminds  them,  that  these  men  were  frail  mortals 
like  themselves,  and  that  the  power  of  God  can 
still  work  through  the  weak.  This  application 
was  all  the  more  appropriate,  inasmuch  as  Chris- 
tianity, by  virtue  of  the  common  relation  of  Priest 
and  Prophet  belonging  to  all  believers,  had  made 
that  common  to  all  which  under  the  old  dispen- 
sation had  been  the  gift  and  prerogative  of  a  few, 
"Elias  Vv^as  man  subject  to  like  passions  as  we  are, 
and  he  prayed  earnestl^^  that  it  might  not  rain  : 
and  it  rained  not  on  the  earth  by  the  space  of 
three  years  and  six  months.  And  he  prayed 
again,  and  the  heaven  gave  rain,  and  the  earth 
bi'ono-ht  forth  her  fruit.'' 

o 


114 

This    exliortation    to    mutual    intercession,    in 
bodily  and  spiritual  need,  leads  to  this 

Ch.  V.  19,  iiO.] 

further  admonition, — that  they  should 
not  harshly  spurn  from  them  such  as,  in  their  re- 
ligious and  moral  development,  may  have  erred 
from  the  right  way,  but  should  interest  themselves 
in  their  case  and  seek  to  lead  them  back  to  the 
truth:  an  admonition  which  they  specially  needed, 
who  were  so  prone  to  deftime  and  condemn. 
"  Brethren,  if  any  of  you  do  err  from  the  truth, 
and  one  convert  him,  let  him  know,  that  he  which 
converteth  the  sinner  from  the  error  of  his  way, 
shall  save  a  soul  from  death,  and  shall  hide  a 
multitude  of  sins."  This,  then,  is  in  James'  view 
the  highest  work  of  love, — to  rescue  the  fallen 
brother  from  that  spiritual  death  to  which  he  is 
verging.  More  than  to  excite  in  one  repentance 
for  a  single  sin,  and  thereby  prepare  the  way  for 
attaining  forgiveness  of  one  sinful  act, — more 
than  this  is  the  rescue  of  a  soul  from  a  life  of  sin, 
and  the  restoration  of  the  new  divine  i:)rinciple  of 
life.  By  this  the  many  sins  are  covered,  in  which 
his  former  course  had  plunged  him.  This  expla- 
nation of  the  words  seems  most  in  harmony  with 
the  connection.     But,  by  the  sins  here  spoken  of, 


115 

might  be  understood  tlie  sins  of  him  who  thus 
rescues  a  brother  from  death.  The  meaning:  would 
then  be :  The  love  thus  shown  in  active  zeal  for 
the  spiritual  welfare  of  another,,  shall  cover  many- 
sins  into  which  one  may  have  fallen  througli  infir- 
mity of  the  flesh  ;  inasmuch  as  Love  outweighs  all 
else,  and  above  all  else  is  adapted  to  subdue  the 
still  remaining  evil  of  the  heart.  So  we  are  taught 
by  the  Saviour  himself,  that  to  him  who  loveth 
much,  much  shall  be  forgiven.  Were  this  the  true 
meaning  of  the  passage  (which,  however,  is  con- 
trary to  our  view),  still  the  covering  of  one's  own 
sins  would  not  be  de23endent  on  the  success  of  his 
efforts  for  another ;  for  this  is  not  placed  in  the 
power  of  man,  and  he  can  gain  nothing  for  him- 
self thereby,  for  the  very  reason  that  it  is  some- 
thing independent  of  his  own  purpose.  It  is  the 
zeal  of  love,  laboring  for  the  conversion  of  anoth- 
er,— it  is  this  that  hides  the  multitude  of  sins ! 

Thus  closes  this  Epistle,  in  that  spirit  of  love 
which  breathes  through  it  all,  and  which  every- 
where shows  itself  in  the  life  and  labors  of  James  ! 


BS2635 .N349 

Scriptural  expositions  of  the  First 


Theological  Semmary-Speer  Library 


1   1012  00071    1889 


m>^ 


